ABSTRACT
Though the fleet could rightly claim several distinctions, no fanfare greeted the return of Mansell's ships. Indeed, the event passed almost without notice. The only official indication at all comes in the form of bills presented after the expedition was over. Even as well-informed and assiduous an intelligencer as Chamberlain only noted the event in passing and gives no date for the return of the fleet.1 That contemporaries took so little notice may simply reflect a preoccupation with other matters, but it may also indicate their estimation of the fleet's accomplishments. There were no triumphal celebrations, no rich prizes, no heroic actions worthy of praise. The fleet slipped into harbour silently and the expedition passed almost as quietly into history.
