Adam Duncan's personal method of suppressing mutiny

Why is Duncan's response to disgruntled sailors remembered as unusually effective?

He asserted command face-to-face and accepted personal risk, making resistance a direct contest with the admiral rather than with guards or intermediaries.

The method was brutal but direct: Duncan made clear that he would physically overpower a challenger and stood exposed before the crew while doing so. He did not shelter behind marines, junior officers, or the formal machinery of discipline. That personal risk changed the confrontation because every sailor could see that the admiral would answer resistance himself. A second challenger also knew that Duncan would immediately turn his full attention on him, reinforcing command through personal presence rather than distance.