Tyger

Kydd Sea Adventures by Julian Stockwin

K
YDD

A
RTEMIS

S
EAFLOWER

M
UTINY

Q
UARTERDECK

T
ENACIOUS

C
OMMAND

THE
A
DMIRAL
’
S
D
AUGHTER

THE
P
RIVATEER
’
S
R
EVENGE
*

I
NVASION

V
ICTORY

C
ONQUEST

B
ETRAYAL

C
ARIBBEE

P
ASHA

*
Published in the U.K. as
T
REACHERY

Published by McBooks Press 2015, simultaneously published in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton,
a Hachette UK company.

Copyright ©2015 by Julian Stockwin. The right of Julian Stockwin to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission of the publisher. Address requests for such permissions to McBooks Press, Inc., ID Booth Building, 520 North Meadow St., Ithaca, NY 14850.

Cover composite of paintings by Geoffrey Huband, Prussian crown photo by Mirko Junge, and Prussian flag illustration by David Liuzzo.

Maps drawn by Sandra Oakins.

Dust jacket and book design by Panda Musgrove.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stockwin, Julian.

Tyger : a Kydd sea adventure / Julian Stockwin.

      pages ; cm. -- (Kydd sea adventures)

ISBN 978-1-59013-700-0 (hardcover : acid-free paper) -- ISBN 978-1-59013-702-4 (epub) -- ISBN 978-1-59013-701-7 (mobipocket)

1. Kydd, Thomas (Fictitious character)--Fiction. 2. Great Britain--History, Naval--19th century--Fiction. 3. Sailors--Fiction. 4. Seafaring life--Fiction.

I. Title.

All characters in this publication are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Visit the McBooks Press website at
www.mcbooks.com

Printed in the United States of America

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Keith

*indicates fictitious character

*Sir Thomas Kydd, captain of HMS
Tyger

*Nicholas Renzi, Lord Farndon,
friend and former confidential secretary

T
YGER
,
SHIP
’
S
COMPANY

*Borden, master’s mate

*Bowden, replacement second lieutenant

*Bray, replacement first lieutenant

*Brice, replacement third lieutenant

*Clinton, Royal Marines captain

*Darby, gunner

*Dawes, boatswain

*Dawkins, able seaman

*Digby, quartermaster’s mate

*Doud, seaman

*Flynn, steward

*Gordon, carpenter’s mate

*Haffner, able seaman

*Halgren, captain’s coxswain

*Harman, purser

*Herne, replacement boatswain

*Hollis, first lieutenant

*Jemmy, ship’s boy

*Joyce, replacement master

*Le Breton, sailing master

*Legge, carpenter

*Maynard, master’s mate

*Nowell, third lieutenant

*Oxley, surgeon

*Paddon, second lieutenant

*Payne, lieutenant of Marines

*Pinto, seaman

*Pollard, bosun’s mate

*Smyth, master’s mate

*Stirk, gunner’s mate

*Tully, master-at-arms

O
THERS

Adams, master shipbuilder of Beaulieu

*Bazely, captain,
Fenella

Bellingham, British prisoner in Archangel

Bennigsen, Count, commander of coalition forces in East Prussia

Blücher, Generalleutnant, aide to King Friedrich

*Blunt, Muscovy Company

Bourne, secretary of the Treasury during Pitt’s office

Browne, former master attendant at Cape of Good Hope

*Cecilia, née Kydd, Lady Farndon

Collingwood, admiral, commander-in-chief Mediterranean

Davout, French general

Dundas, first lord of the Admiralty

*Engelhardt, subaltern friend of Gürsten

Essington, rear admiral

*Felkins, London solicitor

*Gürsten, Flügelleutnant, staff lieutenant in Prussian headquarters

*Hohenlau, Generalleutnant,
Prussian commander under Bennigsen

*Horner, Arctic pilot

*Hozier, captain,
Lively

Jervis, Earl St Vincent

Jervis, Mr, nephew of Earl St Vincent,
crown prosecutor in Popham court-martial

*Knowles, reporting agent

Labanoff, Russian cavalry general

*Marceau, captain,
Preussen

*Miss Sophy, young London socialite

Mulgrave, first lord of the Admiralty

*Parker, former captain of
Tyger

Phillip, rear admiral, Impress Service

Popham, Sir Home, senior post captain

Popov, mayor of Archangel

*Purvis, Renzi’s butler

*
Rogers, captain,
Stoat

Russell, vice admiral

Scharnhorst, Prussian chief of general staff

Soult, French general

*Stuart, foreign office

Victor, French general

Voronov, Kapitan, port captain of Archangel

Wilkinstone, rear admiral

Young, admiral, president of court-martial

L’A
URORE
WAS NEW-MOORED
off the legendary Plymouth Hoe. After so long at sea, and the strangeness and allure of foreign shores, it was gratifying to take in the deep green softness of England.

“Do excuse my not seeing you ashore, Renzi old fellow,” Captain Sir Thomas Kydd said, taking his friend’s hand warmly. “You know I’m bound to sail back to Cádiz to rejoin the fleet and—”

“Dear chap, allow that I’ve a modicum of experience in the sea service and do respect your bounden duty. To be borne back to England in your inestimable bark has been more than my deserving.”

Kydd’s commander-in-chief, Admiral Collingwood, had been generous in allowing the frigate that had rescued this peer of the realm from a Turkish prison to continue on to England. Now they must part—Renzi to his seat in Wiltshire and Kydd to restore HMS
L’Aurore
to the blockading fleet as soon as possible.

“You’ll give my respects to Cec—that is, your noble wife, won’t you?” That his young sister had married an earl and was now a countess was still a thing of wonder to Kydd.

“I will. Providing I have your promise that you’ll honour us with a visit just as soon as you’re able?”

“You may count on it, Nicholas.”

He watched his closest friend swing over the bulwarks and, with a last wave, descend into the boat hooked on alongside. He heard his coxswain Poulden’s gruff “Bear off—give way together,” and saw it stroke smartly off.