Tyger

L’ Aurore and Captain Kydd have returned to Plymouth to drop off Lord Farndon who was recently released from a Turkish prison.  However, while in port the ship’s carpenter brings Kydd bad news.  There is rot alongside the keel.  This means dry dock and the dispersal of the crew amongst the other ships of the navy.

Kydd is shocked when he finds out that he is to be appointed captain of a brand new frigate, larger and with heavier guns than the L’ Aurore.  The ship is still being built, so he has time of leisure ahead, plus serving as a witness at the court-martial of Captain Popham.

Unfortunately Kydd is overhead speaking about the outcome of the court-martial by a newspaper reporter.  What he says will damn him in the eyes of the Admiralty.  However, he is shocked when they give him command of another frigate.  He soon learns that Tyger’s crew had mutinied and three of the ring leaders had been hung.  The Admiralty is setting him up for failure.

Putting to sea with a depleted crew, Kydd hopes to overcome mutinous men by gaining a prize for the men.  He quickly realises that there is at least one man aboard that could prevent him from gaining the trust of the rest of the crew.  Can Kydd prevent another mutiny?  Can he turn Tyger into a true British fighting vessel?

Kydd and the crew of Tyger are tasked with a special load to be delivered to Tsar Alexander to ensure that Russia will stay in the war against Napoleon.  That means sailing into the mouth of the Baltic.

Returning from that task, Kydd learns from his fleet admiral that when he returns to Yarmouth, he is to lose Tyger.  To prevent this from happening too soon, the admiral sends him to check out the viability of Archangel as a port.  Arctic stores are necessary.

In Archangel, Kydd discovers that the port would need dredging to allow deep hulled vessels in.  He also learns that the Dutch are taking furs out and selling them on to the French.  How can he put a stop to this illicit trade?  When he does, Kydd finds Tyger ordered into the Baltic to help the Prussians.

Tyger is one of author Julian Stockwin’s most interesting naval novels to date.  Action is intense and bloody.  A jolly good read for fans of historical naval fiction.