Report on the first research campaign on the Napoleonic brick,<i>Mercure</i>, wrecked off Lignano, Udine, Italy in 1812

Abstract

During 2001, the NAUSICAA office organized a research campaign on the site where two carronades had been retrieved by a fishing boat. Side-scan sonar research led to the discovery of a mound and six more carronades. The mound was composed of iron ingots, cannon balls, and tools reused as ballast. After the cleaning of a carronade, it was possible to read the name of the foundry, Du Creusot, and the date, 1806. This evidence was sufficient to identify this as the wreck of the Napoleonic brick, Mercure, lost during the Battle of Grado, fought between an English and French fleet in February 1812.