The first HMS Mersey was a Conway-class 20-gun sixth-rate post ship, launched in 1814; she was re-rated as 26 guns in 1817. She was launched too late to see action in the Napoleonic War, though she nevertheless had a long and distinguished career that took her to Halifax Station in 1818 and then the South American station in 1824 until her departure in 1827, when she was then deployed to the Caribbean station from that year until 1831. She was eventually broken up in 1852.

History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Mersey
Ordered18 January 1813
BuilderWilliam Courtney, Chester
Laid downMarch 1813
LaunchedMarch 1814
CommissionedSeptember 1818
FateBroken up in July 1852
General characteristics
Class and type20-gun sixth-rate Conway-class post ship
Tons burthen450.7 long tons (458 t)
Length
  • 108 ft 6 in (33.1 m) (gundeck)
  • 90 ft 1.25 in (27.5 m) (keel)
Beam30 ft 8 in (9.3 m)
Depth of hold9 ft (2.74 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement155
Armament
  • 20 guns:
  • UD: 18 × 32-pdrs carronades
  • QD: 6 × 12-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 12-pounder carronades
  • and 2 × 6-pdr chase guns

Sources

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  • Rif Winfield. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. 2nd edition, Seaforth Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.