Coming to Dundee
In April 1862, HMS Unicorn was moved to Sheerness Dockyard and laid up “in ordinary” once again. With the rise of ironclad ships and steam propulsion, Unicorn’s potential as a fighting frigate had drawn to an end.
However, only a decade later, Unicorn was given a new life 400 miles north in the growing industrial city of Dundee.
Dundee required a new training ship for the city’s Royal Naval Reserves (RNR) – Britain’s voluntary naval reserve force established in 1859.
As a result, HMS Unicorn left her home on the River Medway and was brought north, arriving in Dundee on the 9th November 1873.
The ship has been a prominent site of Dundee’s waterfront ever since and is now one of the city’s oldest landmarks.
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A New Home
Leaving Sheerness on the 5th November 1873, HMS Unicorn was towed up the east coast of the UK by HM Paddle Sloop Salamander.
When the ship arrived in Dundee, she was placed in her new berth against the south-western wall of the Earl Grey Dock. She remained in this spot for 89 years, only being moved in 1962 for the construction of the Tay Road Bridge.
A New Home
Leaving Sheerness on the 5th November 1873, HMS Unicorn was towed up the east coast of the UK by HM Paddle Sloop Salamander.
When the ship arrived in Dundee, she was placed in her new berth against the south-western wall of the Earl Grey Dock. She remained in this spot for 89 years, only being moved in 1962 for the construction of the Tay Road Bridge.
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Refitting the ‘Wooden Wall’
In her new role as a training ship, HMS Unicorn was fully refitted and given a host of modern weaponry, including a 9 inch 100-pounder smooth-bore gun.
When the Dundee Courier and Advertiser reported on the refitting of the ship in 1874, they commented that,
“Unicorn has internally been almost entirely transformed from a dirty, dingy, and disorderly state to one of cleanliness, cheerfulness, and first-rate order.”
Refitting the ‘Wooden Wall’
In her new role as a training ship, HMS Unicorn was fully refitted and given a host of modern weaponry, including a 9 inch 100-pounder smooth-bore gun.
When the Dundee Courier and Advertiser reported on the refitting of the ship in 1874, they commented that,
“Unicorn has internally been almost entirely transformed from a dirty, dingy, and disorderly state to one of cleanliness, cheerfulness, and first-rate order.”
