HMS Unicorn (1824)
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| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Unicorn |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Royal Dockyard, Chatham, UK |
| Laid down: | 1822 |
| Launched: | 1824 |
| Status: | Museum ship, Dundee, UK |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Leda-class frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 1053 bm |
| Length: | 150 ft 0 in (45.7 m) (lower deck) |
| Beam: | 40 ft 0 in (12.2 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 6 in (3.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Complement: | 284– |
| Armament: | Twenty-eight 18-pounder guns Ten 9-pounder guns Eight carronades |
HMS Unicorn and her sister ship, HMS Trincomalee, are surviving sailing frigates of the successful Leda class. Unicorn is now a museum ship in Dundee, United Kingdom.
HMS Unicorn was built in peacetime at Chatham Dockyard and launched in 1824. A superstructure was built over her main deck and she was laid up "in ordinary", serving as a hulk and a depot ship for most of the next 140 years. Her lack of active duty left her timbers well preserved, and in the 1960s steps were initiated to convert her to a museum ship. Though steps were taken, including the addition of the totally new bowsprit visible in the picture, to restore Unicorn to a similar condition as her sister, HMS Trincomalee, this plan has been changed. It was discovered that the ship was the only example of a wooden frigate of her type existing 'in ordinary,' and as a result the intention is now to preserve her in her current condition.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- HMS Unicorn - official site
- HMS Unicorn - webpage, Ships of the World: An Historical Encyclopedia
- HMS Unicorn - webpage, National Historic Ships
- Origin of the "Leda" class frigate
- Funding crisis could sink HMS Unicorn
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