Burned stocks, lost gunboats, and ships held in reserve

Britain burned ships still on the stocks and attempted to remove captured gunboats. Many of the gunboats sank during removal, and Danish or Norwegian forces later refloated some of them. The Royal Navy regarded those two-gun craft as less important than larger cruising vessels. Most captured ships of the line were laid up as a reserve in case a longer war or heavy losses created a need for them, and few saw operational use. Frigates were the major exception because the service had immediate operational demand for them.