HMS Mercury (1779)

HMS Mercury cutting out a French gunboat from Rovigno, 1 April 1809
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Mercury
Ordered	22 January 1778
Builder	Peter Everitt Mestaer, King and Queen Shipyard, Rotherhithe
Laid down	25 March 1778
Launched	9 December 1779
Completed	By 24 February 1780
Fate	Broken up in January 1814
General characteristics
Class and type	28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen	60512⁄94 (bm)
Length	120 ft 9+3⁄4 in (36.8 m) (overall) 99 ft 10.5 in (30.4 m) (keel)
Beam	33 ft 9 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold	11 ft 0+1⁄2 in (3.4 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	200
Armament	Upper deck: 24 × 9-pounder guns QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 18-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 18-pounder carronades 12 × swivel guns

HMS Mercury was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built during the American War of Independence and serving during the later years of that conflict. She continued to serve during the years of peace and had an active career during the French Revolutionary Wars and most of the Napoleonic Wars, until being broken up in 1814.