Hunting HMS Tyger, 1742: Identifying a Ship-of-the-Line in Dry Tortugas National Park

Abstract

In 1742, HMS Tyger, a 95-year-old, 50-gun ship-of-the-line, was the first of three British men-of-war to sink in the Florida Keys during the War of Jenkin’s Ear. Lost while menacing Spanish shipping transiting the Straits of Florida, Tyger and its 300 crew ran aground and were marooned for 66 days in what is now Dry Tortugas National Park in the United States. One site identified and partially documented by members of the U.S. National Park Services Submerged Cultural Resource Unit (NPS SCRU) in the mid-1990s was only tentatively identified as Tyger based on preliminary evidence. This paper presents new findings based on recent historical and archaeological research to prove that a foreign warship perished within what would become one of the most isolated National Parks in the United States.