The wreck is reported to be broken up with some section of wreckage inshore and other lying in 21m of water. The propeller and shaft are some 90m to the northwest of the main concentration of wreckage. The full character and extent of archaeological remains associated with the loss of this vessel is presently unknown.

Event and Historical Information:
The MERSEY was an iron-hulled steamship built in 1885 by W A Stevens, Birkenhead. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 342gt, 149nt; 159ft length x 23ft breadth x 10ft depth; screw propulsion powered by a single boiler linked to a compound engine. At time of loss, the vessel was owned by Mersey Steam Ship Company and was carrying a cargo of coal from Newport to Liverpool under the command of master W H Ball. On 21 July 1886, the ship encountered fog and ran ashore on Penrhos Point.

Sources include:
Board of Trade Wreck Return 1886 Appendix C Table 1 pg116 (882)
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyds Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1885 - 30 June 1886, number 781 in M
UK Hydrographic Office Wrecks and Obstructions Database. ? Crown Copyright and database rights. Reproduced by permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office and the UK Hydrographic Office (www.ukho.gov.uk).

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, September 2008.