The Mercurio was a brick of the Kingdom of Italy belonging to the Italo-French fleet, harboured in Venice. A brick was a military vessel 32 m long, with two masts and a bridge with, in this case, 16 carronades, two cannons and several petrière (a type of cannon).
The boat was sunk by the English fleet during the battle of Grado on the night of 21st February 1812, whilst escorting the ship called the Rivoli.

The site was discovered in 2001 when a fishing boat accidentally hauled up a carronade, that is a short, smoothbore, large calibre cast-iron cannon.

In 2001 the Archaeological Superintendency of Veneto organized a rescue excavation. From 2004 excavations have been undertaken by the Università Ca\’ Foscari of Venice.

The main area of the site (A) is constituted by the hull preserved from the prow wheel to the centre of the boat and by a portion of the sternpost (B) located at a distance of circa 80 m. This situation is the result of the explosion narrated by the chronicles of the period.

The wreck was examined on a superficial level in area B and over most of area A where, in the left side of the prow, further excavations are in progress.
The hull was well-preserved, at least on the left side. Inside, circa 900 objects were found including naval equipment, side-arms, fire-arms, iron carronades and cannons and a bronze pietrière, structural parts of the hull such as copper alloy nails and pins and copper sheeting from the hull and elements of the interior decorations, elements of uniforms, personal objects and furnishings.

Skeletal remains belonging to at least five individuals were recovered, an attempt is being made to associate them with personal objects and uniforms. The latter were represented by hundreds of buttons of different types. The most interesting personal objects were wooden needle cases, a brush, a seal, a pendent with religious images, a presumed reliquary and gold artefacts.

The study of the hull has brought to light some unusual aspects of naval construction in the early 19th century, whilst the vast number of personal objects, as well as their originality, pose interesting questions regarding life on board military vessels in this period.