HMS Piercer (1804)

Piercer
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Piercer
Operator	Royal Navy
Builder	Obadiah Ayles, Topsham, Exeter
Launched	1804
Decommissioned	1814
Honours and awards	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Gluckstadt 5 Jany. 1814"[1]
Fate	Transferred to the Kingdom of Hanover 1814
Kingdom of Hanover
Name	The Piercer
Acquired	by transfer 4 June 1814
Decommissioned	1850
Fate	Decommissioned 1850
General characteristics
Class and type	Archer-class gun-brig
Tons burthen	17731⁄94 (bm)
Length	80 ft 0 in (24.38 m) (gundeck) 65 ft 0 in (19.81 m)64 ft (keel)
Beam	22 ft 6+3⁄4 in (6.877 m)
Depth of hold	9 ft 5 in (2.87 m)
Sail plan	Brig
Complement	50
Armament	10 × 18-pounder carronades + 2 × bow chasers

HMS Piercer was a Royal Navy Archer-class gun-brig launched in 1804. She served against the French, Danes and Dutch in the Napoleonic Wars and was assigned to the Downs station. She participated in a number of operations in the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel, and the North Sea. In 1814 the British government transferred Piercer to the Kingdom of Hanover for use as a guard ship. Hanover decommissioned her in 1850.