British Sixth Rate frigate 'Mercury' (1779)

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Mercury

5363
Nominal Guns28BWAS-1714
NationalityGreat Britain
OperatorRoyal Navy
Ordered22.1.1778BWAS-1714
Keel Laid Down25.3.1778BWAS-1714
Launched9.12.1779BWAS-1714
How acquiredPurpose builtBWAS-1714
ShipyardRotherhithe BWAS-1714
Ship ClassEnterprise Class
Designed byJohn Williams (1700-?)BWAS-1714
ConstructorPeter MestaerBWAS-1714
CategorySixth RateBWAS-1714
Ship TypeFrigate
Sailing RigShip Rigged
Broken Up1.1814BWAS-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 - 1.1.1780CaptainJohn Colpoys (1742-1821) ADM 6/22/41ADM1041.1.1780 - 5.1781CaptainIsaac Prescott (d.1830) ADM 6/22/74BWAS-17149.5.1782 - 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-1714British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714 - 1792Rif WinfieldBook
ADM104ADM 104 Officers entitled to Half Pay Document
NBD1849A Naval Biographical Dictionary 1849O'BrienDigital Book
TNCThe Naval ChronicalVariousPeriodical
TRN5The Royal Navy : a history from the earliest times to the present Vol VWilliam Laid ClowesDigital Book
ADM29-1ADM 29/1 1802-1814 Admiralty: Warrant Officers. Entry Books of Certificates of Service Document
ref:692Base de donnés sur les capitaines corsaires , les navires et les armateursJJ SaleinWeb Site
 
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