HMS Unicorn (1824) Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids History

United Kingdom
Name	HMS Unicorn
Operator	Royal Navy
Ordered	23 July 1817
Builder	Royal Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, England
Laid down	February 1822
Launched	30 March 1824
In service	1824
Out of service	~1964
Refit	1824, refit during construction to receiving/barracks vessel
Homeport	Dundee, Scotland
Status	Museum ship, Dundee, Scotland
General characteristics
Class and type	Modified Leda-class frigate
Tons burthen	1077 bm
Length	151 ft 9 in (46.25 m) (lower deck) 125 ft (38 m) (keel)
Beam	40 ft 3 in (12.27 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Sail plan	Although never given masts, she was planned as a full-rigged ship
Range	Cannot move without tow (never rigged)
Complement	315
Armament	Upper deck: 28 × 18-pounder guns Quarter deck: 14 × 32-pounder carronades Forecastle: 2 × 9-pounder guns, 2 × 32-pounder carronades

The HMS Unicorn is a very old sailing ship. It's a type of warship called a frigate. Even though it was built a long time ago, it's still in great shape! Today, you can visit it as a museum ship in Dundee, Scotland. It's the oldest ship in Scotland and one of the oldest ships still around anywhere in the world. It's also one of the last warships from the time when ships used sails to move.

History of HMS Unicorn
Gallery
See also

History of HMS Unicorn

Modern medal for HMS Unicorn

The HMS Unicorn was built in 1824 at Chatham Dockyard in Kent, England. This was a time when shipbuilding was changing. It was getting harder to find good wood, but iron was becoming more common.

Sir Robert Seppings, who was in charge of the Royal Navy's ships, made sure Unicorn was built strongly. He used iron straps and "knees" (curved pieces) to make the hull (the body of the ship) extra tough.

A Ship That Never Sailed

The Unicorn was built right after the wars against Napoleon ended. Because of this, it was never fully set up with masts and sails. Instead, a roof was built over its main deck. For almost 140 years, it stayed "in ordinary," meaning it was kept in reserve. It served as a hulk, which is a ship used for storage or as a floating base.

In 1857, the Unicorn was used by the War Department to store gunpowder at Woolwich. It returned to Sheerness in 1863. Since it never went to sea, its hull stayed in good condition.

Training Ship in Dundee

In 1873, the Unicorn was chosen to be a training ship for the Royal Naval Reserve in Dundee. It replaced another ship called HMS Brilliant (1814). The Unicorn was towed to Dundee by a steam ship called HMS Salamander. This was its only real sea journey!

In 1906, the Unicorn was moved to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. During both World War I and World War II, it was the main office for the Senior Naval Officer in Dundee.

Renamed and Reclaimed

In 1939, a new aircraft carrier was also named HMS Unicorn (I72). To avoid confusion, the old frigate was renamed HMS Unicorn II. Then, in 1941, it was renamed HMS Cressy. During World War II, it also trained women from the Women's Royal Naval Service. More than 1,500 women trained there. On May 14, 1945, the Unicorn accepted the surrender of a German submarine, the U-2326.

In 1959, after the aircraft carrier was taken apart, Cressy got its original name back: Unicorn. In 1962, the area where Unicorn was docked was filled in for a new bridge. The ship had to be moved. Some people wanted to scrap it, but its former captain helped save it.

In 1967, a new building was opened for the reservists. This again made people wonder what would happen to the ship. So, the Unicorn Preservation Society was created to save it. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh officially accepted the Unicorn for the society on September 26, 1968.

A Museum Ship Today

Because the Unicorn never saw active duty, its wooden parts are still very well preserved. In the late 1960s, work began to turn it into a museum ship. The roof over its upper deck is thought to be the original one.

In April 2019, the Unicorn Preservation Society received a grant of £28,900 to help keep the ship safe. In March 2021, experts checked the ship. They found that most of the wooden planks were in poor condition, even some newer ones from the 1850s. However, one restorer said that of all the old ships like this, the Unicorn is "probably the most original." Almost everything you see inside is from when it was built.

There are plans to move the ship to a nearby dry dock for important repair work. This project is called "Operation Safe Haven." The goal is to create a maritime heritage center for the ship. The society is looking for donations of large oak trees to replace the old planks and make the hull stronger. In July 2023, they received £1.11 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

The Unicorn's sister ship, HMS Trincomalee, has also been saved. It is now a main attraction at the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Hartlepool. Trincomalee and Unicorn are the second and third oldest ships still floating. The oldest is the USS Constitution from 1797. The Unicorn is believed to be the most original preserved ship from its time, keeping 90 percent of its original parts.