The official announcement was recorded as follows: "Considering that the most illustrious gentleman, Thomas Gordon, Knight, Admiral in the Fleet of the Most Serene Empress of Russia, is a man of noble birth in this our kingdom of Scotland, being honourably descended from the ancient race of Gordons whose present chief is the most powerful Duke of Gordon; that he was from his early years a most worthy citizen of this city of Aberdeen; that this same brave man, when in the British navy, strenuously defended the commerce and ships of this city from pirates and enemies of every kind; and that he, being an account of his great valour deservedly promoted to the highest honours by the Empress of Russia, still befriends this city; we, in token of our gratitude and esteem, do approve and confirm the aforesaid most illustrious gentleman, Thomas Gordon, as a burgess of this burgh, with all the rights and privileges of a guild brother.

"He was captain of the merchant ship Margaret of Aberdeen in 1693 when he obtained an essential Mediterranean pass of safe conduct to go abroad to the Barbary States of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli.

The account books of the Shipmaster's Society of Aberdeen show him operating from that port between 1688 and 1693 during which time he voyaged to Shetland, Sweden, Norway, and Holland.

This arrest caused great consternation in Holland and an appeal was written to Queen Anne pointing out that the owners of the vessel were blameless since they had passports to land their cargo of wine from the Canaries in Rotterdam.

Apparently she also had an illegal French passport and the ship's cook took revenge on the captain, who had had him beaten the previous day, by revealing this to Gordon.

On 12 March 1705 Lieutenant George Ramsey with two sergeants, three corporals, and thirty-three soldiers were on board the Royal Mary for some two months whilst she cruised off the Scottish east coast.

Due to the execution for piracy of Captain Thomas Green of the East India Company vessel Worcester and two of his officers at Leith in 1707, relationships were poor between the Scottish and English governments.

He and his men were tried by the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland, found guilty, and executed on Leith Sands, despite a complete lack of valid evidence against them.

Colonel Nathaniel Hook, an Irishman and French spy, was landed at Slains Castle near Peterhead where he could be sure of a good welcome at the home of the Earl of Errol.

There were fourteen signals agreed upon by Commodore Gordon and the captain of the French frigate Audacious, which brought over Hooke, whereby they could recognise each other.

Commodore Gordon intimated to the French that he would soon be obliged to quit the service since, when it came to Union, he could not see himself taking the oath of abjuration to repudiate the late King James Stewart as the legitimate claimant to the throne.

In 1706 Commodore Gordon complained that, whilst entering the port of Tynemouth Haven, after having received some damage to a mast in a gale, Captain Jones of the Royal Navy vessel Dunwich had fired a shot at him.

After sending his lieutenant to the Dunwich to enquire why the shot had been fired, he learned that Scottish warships were forbidden from flying a broad pendant whilst in English waters.

Fortunately the discontent subsided and Byng was given the freedom of the City of Edinburgh, and Parliament passed a vote of thanks to Prince George for his promptness.

On the eve of his voyage, the royal guest became ill due to measles, contracted from his sister, so the attempt at landing him had been cancelled before they sailed.

He is in such haste that I was forced to go halves with him in hiring a packet boat at the rate of £5 on purpose to be almost “drounded,” or what was very near as extravagant a reason, to humour my fellow traveller, for we came over in so prodigious a storm that nothing but our light heads could have kept us from the bottom.

Seivers refused to suffer Rear Admiral Gordon to be present at discussions upon the executions of any orders even when required by the Tsar.

The rift between Gordon and Sievers climaxed on 14 July 1721 when, at a banquet commemorating the battle of 'Hango Head,' a violent quarrel broke out between the two men in the presence of the Tsar.

The General-Admiral, Count Apraxin, did his best to justify the actions of Rear Admiral Sievers and maintained that Gordon had falsely accused him of partiality when dividing the officers and men.

A claimant to the Polish throne, Stanisław Leszczyński, supported by King Louis XV of France, had been in hiding at Danzig.

The dispute over, the Polish throne ended in favour of August III and Leszczyński quickly left Danzig, which was occupied by the Russian Army.

He knew the port of Danzig well since, apart from his times as a merchant seaman, he also escorted convoys of Scottish ships back to Scotland whilst in command of the Royal Mary.

France had sent sixteen warships and three regiments to Leszczyński's aid, so it had been necessary for Russia to increase her attacking force, which she did by sending Gordon's ships.

His countryman Field Marshal Keith, writing from Javarof to congratulate Gordon on the Danzig expedition, said: "All the Poles that I have seen assure me that the so sudden surrender of the town was entirely owing to appearance of the fleet which cut off all hopes of succours, and therefore they look on you, as the main instrument of the loss of their liberty, for that is their ordinary term for us who have been employed on this side of Poland."

The family name of the Admiral's wife is disputed with one source calling her a daughter of Sir Thomas Elphinstone of Calderwood whilst another names her as the daughter of Sir James Elphinstone of Logie, Aberdeenshire; however, in 1710 his wife was definitely Margaret Ross, widow of Mr. William Monypenny of the Pitmilly family.

They had a son born 1740 also named Thomas Mackenzie who rose to the rank of rear admiral in the Russian Navy and was the founder of the city of Sevastopol in 1783.