The Mercurius was wrecked in a snowstorm and gale force winds.  She had just left Londonderry after calling in for repairs and had run before an increasing northerly gale but could not get clear of the north end of the island.  She was dashed to pieces at a place called Doon Stack, but not before Captain Lorenzen and his crew made good their escape.  They spent almost six weeks on the island before a boat was able to take them across to the mainland.  While they were on the island, they lived with a blacksmith called Craig.

Diving information – The exact spot where the Mecurius was wrecked is not known, but it is thought to be somewhere in the vicinity of the stacks out by the West Lighthouse, just east of the wreck site of the Pintail. Diving conditions would be the same as those for the Pintail. If a search of the area was planned it would be best to carry it out early in the year when the kelp would not be so dense on the bottom.