HMS Unicorn

Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Unicorn, after the mythological creature, the unicorn:

• HMS Unicorn was a 36-gun ship captured from Scotland in 1544 and sold in 1555
• HMS Unicorn was a 56-gun ship launched in 1634 and sold in 1687
• HMS Unicorn or Little Unicorn was an 18-gun fire ship originally in Dutch service as the Eenhoorn. She was captured in 1665 and expended in 1666
• HMS Unicorn was a 6-gun purchased in 1666 and sunk as a blockship at Chatham in June 1667
• HMS Unicorn was a 28-gun sixth rate launched in 1748 and broken up in 1771
• HMS Unicorn was a 20-gun post ship launched in 1776 and captured by the French ship Andromaque in 1780. She was recaptured as Licorne in 1781 and was broken up in 1814
• HMS Unicorn was a 36-gun fifth rate launched in 1782. She was renamed HMS Thalia in 1783 and was broken up in 1814
• HMS Unicorn was a 32-gun fifth rate launched in 1794 and broken up in 1815
• HMS Unicorn is a Leda-class frigate, launched in 1824 and converted to a powder hulk in 1860. She was a Royal Naval Reserve drill ship from 1873. She was renamed Unicorn II in 1913 and Cressy from 1941 until 1959. She was handed over to a preservation society in 1968 and is preserved in Dundee as a museum ship
• HMS Unicorn was an aircraft maintenance carrier launched in 1941 and broken up in 1960
• HMS Unicorn was an Upholder-class submarine launched in 1992. She was sold to Canada in 2001 and renamed HMCS Windsor

See Also

• HMCS Unicorn, a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve division in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Battle Honours

• Armada 1588
• Cadiz 1596
• Porto Farina 1655
• Santa Cruz 1657
• Lowestoft 1665
• Orfordness 1666
• Sole Bay 1672
• Schooneveld 1673
• Texel 1673
• "Vestale" 1761
• "Tribune" 1796
• Basque Roads 1809
• Salerno 1943
• Okinawa 1945
• Korea 1950-53

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.