 Riou returned to Britain and was met with popular acclaim for his feat. Acquitted of any blame for the loss of his ship, he was promoted to master and commander on 21 September 1790, and advanced to post-captain on 4 June 1791. These promotions were for rank only, and he did not receive a command until after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. Appointed to command the sixth rate HMS Rose in June 1793, he served in the West Indies with Sir John Jervis and was active in the operations against Guadeloupe and Martinique in 1794. He was moved to the 40-gun HMS Beaulieu in November 1794, capturing a number of small French vessels before ill-health forced him to be invalided home. In the meantime, he was appointed to the yacht HMS Princess Augusta, but his health improved and he was able to return to active service in June 1799 with an appointment to command the 38-gun HMS Amazon. He was active against French privateers, before being assigned to Sir Hyde Parker's expedition to the Baltic in 1801 to compel the Danes to abandon the League of Armed Neutrality.
