Still, the French provision ships slipped by and arrived safely in port.

The squadron had been sent out to enable them to get in, and in they were, though it had cost a fleet to get them in.

Nelson used the phrase "a Lord Howe victory" disparagingly.

Nothing short of a complete smashing of the enemy and the utter frustration of his purposes would ever satisfy that ardent soul.
For the sake of clearness, the general scheme of the battle has been described, together with the part played in it by the Bellerophon; but we fortunately have a detailed account of it by Flinders himself.

Young as he was, only a few weeks over 20 years of age, he was evidently cool, and his journal is crowded with carefully observed facts, noted amidst the heat and confusion of conflict; and it is doubtful whether there is in existence a better story of this important fleet action.