British Sixth Rate frigate 'Mercury' (1779)

Three Deck's Forum

Come and ask, answer or inform.

Recent updates

Update Lord Richard Hamilton (4^th Viscount Boyne) (1723/24-1789)
Update Dublin (12)
Update Assurance (44)
Update Anson (60)
Update The Hon. Robert Boyle Walsingham (1736-1780)
Update Oxford (50)
Update John Boyd (c.1722-1762)
Update Cambridge (80)
Update Tamar (16)
Update Greyhound (20)
See more...

Mercury	5363
Nominal Guns	28	BWAS-1714
Nationality	Great Britain
Operator	Royal Navy
Ordered	22.1.1778	BWAS-1714
Keel Laid Down	25.3.1778	BWAS-1714
Launched	9.12.1779	BWAS-1714
How acquired	Purpose built	BWAS-1714
Shipyard	Rotherhithe	BWAS-1714
Ship Class	Enterprise Class
Designed by	John Williams (1700-?)	BWAS-1714
Constructor	Peter Mestaer	BWAS-1714
Category	Sixth Rate	BWAS-1714
Ship Type	Frigate
Sailing Rig	Ship Rigged
Broken Up	1.1814	BWAS-1714

Dimensions

DimensionMeasurementTypeMetric EquivalentBWAS-1714
Length of Gundeck120' 9 ¾"Imperial Feet36.5951
Length of Keel99' 10 ½"Imperial Feet30.1879
Breadth33' 9"Imperial Feet10.1346
Depth in Hold11' 0 ½"Imperial Feet3.3655
Burthen605 ¹²⁄₉₄Tons BM

Armament

9.12.1779Broadside Weight = 177 Imperial Pound ( 80.2698 kg)BWAS-1714
Upper Gun Deck24 British 9-Pounder
Upper Gun Deck12 British 1/2-Pound Swivel
Quarterdeck4 British 18-Pound Carronade
Quarterdeck4 British 6-Pounder
Forecastle2 British 18-Pound Carronade

Crew Complement

Date# of MenNotesSource
3.1.1771200Design Complement

16 Commanding Officers

DatesRankNameSource
27.10.1779 - 1779CaptainJohn Colpoys (1742-1821) ADM 6/22/41ADM10411.1779 - 5.1781CaptainIsaac Prescott (d.1830)BWAS-17149.5.1781 - 9.1782CaptainWilliam CarlyonBWAS-17149.1782 - 12.1782CaptainSir Henry Edwin Stanhope (1754-1814)BWAS-17144.1783 - 11.7.1786CaptainSir Henry Edwin Stanhope (1754-1814)BWAS-17145.1788 - 1790CaptainAugustus Montgomery (d.1797)BWAS-171410.1795 - 4.1797CaptainGeorge ByngBWAS-17144.1797 - 1801CaptainThomas RogersBWAS-17141.4.1803 - 8.1805CaptainDuncombe Pleydall Bouverie (1780-?)BWAS-17148.1805 - 6.1807CaptainCharles PellyBWAS-17146.1807 - 11.1808CaptainJames Alexander Gordon (1782-1869)BWAS-171411.1808 - 3.1810Captain Henry Duncan (1786-1835)BWAS-17145.1810 - 6.1810LieutenantWilliam WebbBWAS-17146.1810 - 11.1811CommanderJohn TancockBWAS-171411.1811 - 8.1813CommanderClement Milward (1776-1857)BWAS-17148.1813 - 1814CommanderSir John Charles RichardsonBWAS-1714

4 Commissioned Officers

DatesRankNameSource
9.1.1791 - 9.8.1791Acting LieutenantCharles Bullen (1768-1853)NBD18491798 - 11.9.1798LieutenantRobert Baylis (d.1798)†TNC1809LieutenantRobert James GordonTRN51809LieutenantWatkin Owen Pell (1788-1869)TRN5

1 Warrant Officer

DatesRatingNameSource
22.8.1805 - 16.3.1806MasterEdward BrownADM29-1

2 Petty Officers

DatesRatingNameSource
12.7.1803 - 1804MidshipmanWilliam Bohun Bowyer (1789-?)NBD184910.1809 - 3.1810MidshipmanEdward Blanckley (d.1845)NBD1849

2 Crewmen

DatesRatingNameSource
1.4.1800 - 6.18031st Class VolunteerJohn Willison (1789-1847)NBD18499.5.1803 - 12.7.18031st Class VolunteerWilliam Bohun Bowyer (1789-?)NBD1849

Service History

DateEventSource
9.12.1779building at Rotherhithe at a cost of £6805.7.0dBWAS-1714
9.12.1779Began fitting at Deptford Dockyard BWAS-1714
24.2.1780Completed fitting at Deptford Dockyard at a cost of £6797.19.0dBWAS-1714
6.4.1780Sailed for NewfoundlandBWAS-1714
12.1782Paid offBWAS-1714
4.1783RecommissionedBWAS-1714
27.6.1783Sailed for Nova ScotiaBWAS-1714
11.7.1786

Paid off

BWAS-1714
8.1787Began small repair at Woolwich Dockyard BWAS-1714
1.1788Completed small repair at Woolwich Dockyard at a cost of £5361.0.0dBWAS-1714
5.1788RecommissionedBWAS-1714
5.1788Began fitting at Woolwich Dockyard BWAS-1714
7.1788Completed fitting at Woolwich Dockyard at a cost of £3463.0.0dBWAS-1714
12.9.1788Sailed for the MediterraneanBWAS-1714
1790Paid offBWAS-1714
7.1795Began fitting at Portsmouth Dockyard BWAS-1714
10.1795RecommissionedBWAS-1714
2.1796Completed fitting at Portsmouth Dockyard at a cost of £6151.0.0dBWAS-1714
1798On the Lisbon StationBWAS-1714
5.1.1798Took the Privateer Le Benjamin (16) on the Lisbon Station
15.1.1798Took the Privateer Brig Les Trois Soeurs (16) on the Lisbon Station
17.1.1798Took the Privateer Brig L'Aigle (16)
25.1.1798Took the Privateer La Constance (12) on the Lisbon Stationref:692
6.1798Sailed to NewfoundlandBWAS-1714
2.1799Began fitting at Portsmouth Dockyard BWAS-1714
5.1799Completed fitting at Portsmouth Dockyard at a cost of £6973.0.0dBWAS-1714
6.1799Sailed to NewfoundlandBWAS-1714
5.2.1800Took the Privateer L'Egyptienne (15) off the Isle of Wight
5.5.1800Sailed to the MediterraneanBWAS-1714
31.7.1800Arrived off AlexandriaBWAS-1714
20.1.1801Took the Unrated Corvette La Sans Pareille (18) in the Mediterranean
27.6.1801Took the Privateer Le Tigre (8) by boat off Venice
4.1803Refitted as a 28 gun Sixth Rate Floating Battery
5.1803fitting at Deptford Dockyard BWAS-1714
4.2.1805Took the Unrated Fuerte de Gibraltar (4)
12.5.1806Sailed for NewfoundlandBWAS-1714
9.1807Sailed with a convoy for NewfoundlandBWAS-1714
6.3.1808Sailed for the MediterraneanBWAS-1714
4.4.1808Action off Rota
4.5.1808In action with gunboats off CadizBWAS-1714
1.4.1809The boats of the Mercury, under Lieutenant Watkin Owen Pell (1788-1869), rowed into the port of Rovigno under a heavy fire, and boarded and carried the French gunboat Leda, with a loss of 5 killed and woundedTRN5
1.4.1809Took the Unrated Gunboat Leda (1) port of Rovigno
23.4.1809Bombardment of Pesaro
2.5.1809In company with Spartan (38) , landed men at Cesenatico, seized the town and captured twelve coasters without lossTRN5
15.5.1809A party under Lieutenant Robert James Gordon, destroyed seven coasters in the Italian harbour of RodiTRN5
7.9.1809Took the Unrated Schooner Pugliese cut out from Barletta
3.1810Paid offBWAS-1714
5.1810RecommissionedBWAS-1714
5.1810Refitted as a 16 gun Unrated Troop Ship
1811On the Lisbon StationBWAS-1714
11.1811Commissioned for the Leeward IslandsBWAS-1714
8.1813Commissioned in the Leeward IslandsBWAS-1714
1.1814Broken up at WoolwichBWAS-1714

Sources

IDDescriptionAuthorType

BWAS-1714Rif WinfieldBook

ADM104 Document

NBD1849O'BrienDigital Book

TNCVariousPeriodical

TRN5William Laid ClowesDigital Book

ADM29-1 Document

ref:692JJ SaleinWeb Site

Previous comments on this pageno comments to display

Make a comment about this page

Recent comments to other pages

Date posted	By	Page
Sunday 9th of December 2018 22:31	Tim Oakley	French Privateer lugger 'L'Eglé' (1804)
Saturday 8th of December 2018 08:38	Sagitt	Polish Fourth Rate galleon 'Ritter Sankt Georg' (1627) (31)
Wednesday 5th of December 2018 18:23	Norman Hurst	Thomas Surridge (d.1820)
Wednesday 5th of December 2018 12:10	Sagitt	Polish Sixth Rate pink 'Meerweib' (1623) (12)
Monday 3rd of December 2018 20:01	Clara Stites	William Nowell (d.1828)

GDPR Statement