16 NAVY NEWS, OCTOBER 2008
Brighter future
for old Unicorn
V
ICTORY. Cutty
large numbers of recruits, many Lt Cdr Roderick Stewart. redevelopment, but even without
Sark. Belfast. Mary
of whom went on to fight with Unicorn was finally paid off in easy access to the city centre, she
distinction in the trenches with 1968, when the RN moved to new still attracts 10,000 people a year.
Rose. Great Britain.
the Royal Naval Division. stone frigate HMS Camperdown, “Basically, this is in the wrong
Warrior. Unicorn. Her silver band, which survives which was demolished four years position,” said ship manager Bob
Unicorn?
today under another name, was ago – the same fate which Unicorn Hovell. “There is not much to
Dundee, a city with a proud
a source of pride in Dundee, and might have expected, either broken bring people down here and then
seafaring history and the home
displayed on Unicorn are the band’s up or sunk by practice gunfire. to the ship.
of Capt Scott’s research ship
original instruments, recovered But Capt Stewart marshalled “Hopefully we will be moving –
Discovery, has another maritime
from Belgium after the war. an army of supporters, a number that will make a big difference.”
gem hidden away.
In World War 2 she was the with considerable influence (the That move, if all goes to plan,
Most people will never have
administrative centre for non- current patron is the Princess will see Unicorn move to a new
heard of her, and her story is, on
civilian shipping on the Tay and Royal, who took over from her site on the redeveloped river front,
the face of it, none too promising.
for nearby HMS Ambrose, the grandmother), and the resulting close to the Discovery and linked
She was built years after
multinational Ninth Submarine Unicorn Preservation Society to the city centre by remodelled
Napoleon succumbed to stomach
Flotilla base, which included threw the old ship a lifeline. roads, paths and cycle routes.
cancer on St Helena, and was
French, Dutch and Polish boats, and She was an integral part of It is half a mile as the crow flies,
launched straight into reserve.
four Norwegian minesweepers. the British deterrent in the wake though she will need to cross to
The RN never even raised a
Unicorn was also a wireless of the Napoleonic Wars, when the south bank of the Tay on her
mast on her, and she languished
telegraphy training administration the Government embarked on a way to pass through the navigable
‘in ordinary’ for decades, either
centre for Wrens, and boasted a building programme to ensure no channel, more than doubling the
idle or as a powder hulk; she was
miniature rifle range. nation would seek to take advantage distance.
almost used as a hospital ship
Ironically, she took the U-boat of perceived weaknesses. If the dream becomes reality,
during a cholera epidemic.
surrender on May 14 1945, a week
Unicorn, with Trincomalee
she will join another old Chatham
Unicorn made just one
after war in Europe had ended.
in Hartlepool, is a survivor
man o’war on public display –
sea voyage, when she was
German commander
of the successful Leda-
HMS Victory was launched in the
towed north by the paddle
Oberleutnant Karl Jobst had lost
class frigates, based on
same yard six decades earlier.
sloop Salamander to the
contact with his base and was
a French design and built
And that heritage is obvious as
Tay in late 1873.
unaware that hostilities were over.
He surrendered his boat U2326
between 1800 and 1830.
soon as you step aboard – although
smaller than Nelson’s flagship,
She never fought a war, and aboard Unicorn, and his Nazi dirk Fast and powerful, they were Unicorn shares the look and
never fired a gun in anger, but this is still on display on board. the last word in sailing warships particularly the distinctive smell of
Cinderella warship bears closer Unicorn’s only victim was the – literally. By the time Unicorn seasoned timber, tar and rope.
scrutiny. U-boat’s executive officer, who was afloat, the Navy was already marina
www.frigateunicorn.org
For a start, Unicorn is probably bashed his head on a low frame on dabbling with
the only Georgian man o’war to leaving the ship; a photograph on steam engines. ● Clockwise from top: Unicorn’s fi gurehead;
take the surrender of a U-boat. display shows the man rubbing his But the ideas the roofed main deck; the ship’s sturdy stern,
And though her guns never spat head moments later. of Sir Robert a distinctive Seppings innovation; a second
iron, the ship still claimed one Such oddities alone would not Seppings, Surveyor fi gurehead displayed inside; Unicorn at her
enemy victim. merit Unicorn’s preservation. of the Navy 1813- berth in Dundee
Berthed in Earl Grey Dock, Luckily she had far more to offer the 32, are clearly
she first acted as the new HQ and student of maritime archaeology, a visible in Unicorn,
training ship for Clyde Division fact firmly grasped by her last particularly the
of the RNR, later to become Tay captain, Rennie Stewart. iron strengthening
Division RNVR. His tireless and valuable work brackets which
The roof which had been built is carried on paved the way for
on to her before launch provided today in part steam power and
excellent accommodation for by his son iron hulls.
training and parades. She now sits
In both world wars she became forlornly in a basin
a regional naval headquarters. surrounded by
During the Great War she
enlisted and trained
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