HMS Unicorn (1824)
1824 Leda-class fifth-rate frigate
HMS Unicorn is a surviving sailing frigate of the successful Leda class, although the original design had been modified by the time that the Unicorn was built, to incorporate a circular stern and "small-timber" system of construction. Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Unicorn is now a museum ship in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom. She is the oldest ship in Scotland, one of the oldest ships in the world, and one of the last intact warships from the age of sail. As of January 2025, the ship is due to undergo restoration and relocation to a newly restored dry dock (Dundee's East Graving Dock).
History
HMS Unicorn was built in peacetime at Chatham Dockyard, Kent and launched in 1824 This was a transitional period for shipbuilding, as suitable timber was becoming more difficult to obtain, and iron was increasingly available. Under the direction of Sir Robert Seppings, then Surveyor of the Royal Navy, Unicorn was built with diagonal riders made with iron straps and iron "knees" that strengthened the hull.
As Unicorn was built shortly after the naval wars against Napoleon ended, she was never rigged; 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. In 1857, she was loaned to the War Department for use as a floating gunpowder store at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, returning to her original berth at Sheerness in 1863. Her lack of sea service meant that her hull remained in good condition and in 1873 was selected to be a drill ship for the Royal Naval Reserve at Dundee to replace HMS Brilliant (1814). Unicorn was towed on her only sea voyage by the steam sloop, HMS Salamander.
The public source identifies “HMS Unicorn (1824)” as 1824 Leda-class fifth-rate frigate. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Unicorn, Leda-class and fifth-rate.
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This entry incorporates text from “HMS Unicorn (1824)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.