The Spanish ships returned to port with Fitz-James Stuart receiving applause and recognition from the Spanish Navy. The Dutch slaves were allowed to return to the Dutch Republic, and the crews of the two Spanish warships received their prize money from valuables taken from the "Danzik". The "Castillo Nuevo", returning to the Barbary states safe and sound, continued its career preying on Christian ships. Despite this defeat, which was followed by other Spanish victories over the Barbary corsairs such as the sinking of three xebecs off Benidorm and the destruction of the "Castillo Nuevo" seven years later, the Barbary corsairs continued to threaten and harass Spanish merchant ships. In 1775, the King of Spain, Charles III ordered Alejandro O'Reilly to strike a major blow to the Dey of Algiers by capturing the port of Algiers, a major center of the Barbary slave trade. The expedition, although assembling 20,000 men and 74 warships, failed miserably, and was unable to move the position of the various Deys in regards to their approval of the enslavement of Christians. Despite this defeat, Charles never gave up his ambition to put an end to the Barbary threat to his nation.