[1] He was the son of another Thomas MacKenzie (Russian: Фома Калинович Мекензи, romanized: Foma Kalinovich (Colin) Mekenzi) who was also a rear admiral in the service of Russia.
He was wounded in the Battle of Chesma, where he served under Scottish-born Admiral Samuel Greig and commanded a fireship which contributed to the destruction of the Turkish fleet.
At MacKenzie's initiative the city was developed, with a shipyard, shops, hospital and church, as well as barracks and living quarters for officers.
The MacKenzie Hills (Мекензиевые горы) on the outskirts of the city are named in his honour, and he was given a farmstead there by Potemkin as a reward for his service.
Making the most of limited resources, he did not always observe formalities in achieving results, which served as a motive for accusations of misuse of treasury funds.