OOC: I suggest you edit this to DBWI. Even then,the British wouldn’t plea for peace because they have plenty of fleets.
Yes they did but the shock of losing 20 ships of the line out of 27 was terrible (and the loss of more than 10,000 sailors also could not be overlooked), even worse than one caused by the British defeat at Aboukir Bay (including death of the overly adventurous Admiral Nelson and loss of 5 ships of the line) or the heavy losses at the Battle of Copenhagen (4 ships of the line and 2 frigates). The attempts to fight French on land were not successful either: Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in 1799 was a failure (fortunately, the Russians suffered most of the losses), an attempt to land in Portugal (1804) also ended with the heavy losses and capitulation of the expedition force. The nation simply did not want to continue what looked as a senseless and expensive adventure. Add to that a reluctance of Russia to go to war with France without any serious reason and Austrian reluctance to fight Napoleon alone and you have a rather bleak perspective.