HMS Unicorn (1794)
| 300px 'Engagement between the Unicorn Frigate Capt Williams and the Tribune French Frigate near Waterford', an 1801 engraving depicting the capture of the Tribune by HMS Unicorn | |
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Unicorn |
| Ordered: | 9 December 1790 |
| Builder: | M/Shipwright John Nelson (died March 1793; completed by Thomas Pollard, Chatham Dockyard |
| Laid down: | March 1792 |
| Launched: | 12 July 1794 |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Broken up in March 1815 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 32-gun Pallas-class frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 791 3/94bm |
| Length: | 135 ft (41.148000000 m) |
| Beam: | 36 ft (10.970 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft (3.657600 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Armament: |
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HMS Unicorn was a 32-gun fifth-rate [Pallas class frigate|Pallas-class frigate]] of the Royal Navy, launched in 1794 at Chatham. This frigate served in both the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, including a medal action early in her career. She was broken up in 1815.
Contents
Service
Unicorn entered service in 1794 under the command of Captain William Cayley, who was followed in 1795 by Captain Thomas Williams.[1] Under Williams, Unicorn served in the Western Approaches, operating from Cork. In August 1795 she recaptured an East Indiaman and a whaler from their Dutch captors, together with the 18-gun Dutch brig Komeet on 28 August.[1]
In the Action of 6 June 1796, Unicorn captured the French 44-gun frigate Tribune, which earned Williams a knighthood. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the remaining survivors of the action the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "UNICORN 8 JUNE 1796".
On 21 October Unicorn captured the 6-gun privateer Enterprise in the Irish Sea. In December, Unicorn was one of the few British ships able to respond to the French effort to invade Ireland during the Expédition d'Irlande.
On 7 January 1797, Unicorn was able to capture the troopship Ville de Lorient with two other British frigates and pursue the French flagship in the closing days of the campaign. Four days later Unicorn captured the 18-gun privateer Eclair in the Channel.[1]
In March 1797, command passed to Capt. James Young and then to Captain James Wilkinson in April 1799.[1] Unicorn captured a French brig in March 1799. She participated in the attempt on the Spanish squadron in Aix Roads on 2 July.[1] Her boats, together with others of Warren's squadron, captured the gunboat Nochette and others off the Penmarcks.[1] She brought ten French coastal ships into Plymouth.
Command then passed to Captain Charles Wemyss in 1801 and Capt. Charles Stuart in 1802.[1] In April and May 1803 Unicorn was placed in dock at Chatham for extensive repairs.
Unicorn was recommissioned in April under Captain Lucius Hardyman for the North Sea.[1] She sailed for Jamaica on 23 December 1804.[1]
On about 6 May 1805, Unicorn's boats captured the privateer Tape-a-Bord off San Domingo.[1] She sailed for the River Plate on 7 October 1806. She then was off Buenos Aires during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata. In 1808 she returned to Britain and in 1809 was partially engaged at the Battle of Basque Roads.
Captain Alex Robert Kerr assumed command in August 1809. Unicorn captured the 16-gun privateer Gascon on 3 February 1810. On 12 April 1810, she captured the 22-gun Esperence off the Île de Ré. Esperence was the former British Sixth Rate Post-ship Laurel,[1] but was armed en flute, under the command of a Lieutenant de vaisseau and carrying a cargo of colonial produce from Mauritius.
In April 1811 Captain George B. Salt assumed command. Soon afterwards Salt suffered an attack of apoplexy. Still, on 30 March 1813 he captured the 18-gun privateer Miqelonnaise. In April she took the 2-gun privateer schooner Hébé, the former Royal Navy schooner Laura.[1] Captain S. G. Pechell took command in 1814.[1]
Fate
Unicorn was sold out of the service and broken up at Deptford in March 1815.[1]
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 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
