HMS ''Unicorn'' was a 28-gun ''Lyme''-class
sixth-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and ...
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
of the
Royal Navy. She was originally ordered as a 24-gun ship to the draft of the French privateer ''Tyger''. The third vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name, ''Unicorn'', as well as which was a near-sister, were the first true frigates built for the Royal Navy. They were actually completed with 28 guns including the four smaller weapons on the quarterdeck, but the latter were not included in the ship's official establishment until 22 September 1756. The two ships differed in detail, ''Unicorn'' having a beakhead bow, a unicorn figurehead , two-light quarter galleries, and only five pairs of quarterdeck gunports, while ''Lyme'' had a round bow, a lion figurehead, three-light quarter galleries, and six pairs of quarterdeck gunports.
''Unicorn'' was first commissioned in March 1749 under Captain
Molyneaux Shuldham, under whose command she spent her first commission in the
Mediterranean until returning home to pay off at
Deptford in June 1752. After repairs, she was recommissioned in January 1753 under Captain
Matthew Buckle
Admiral Matthew Buckle (1716 – 9 July 1784) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, the Downs from 1778 to 1779.
Naval career
Promoted to captain on 29 May 1745, Buckle was given command of the third-rate HMS ''Russell'' on ...
, and sailed for the Mediterranean again in April 1753. In February 1756 command passed to Captain James Galbraith; in September Captain John Rawling replaced Galbraith.
''Unicorn'' captured the French frigate
''Vestale'' on 8 January 1761. ''Vestale'', under the command of M. Boisbertelot, had been part of a squadron of five ships that had left the
Vilaine river for
Brest under the cover of a heavy fog. When ''Unicorn'' encountered ''Vestale'' off the
Penmarks
Penmarch (, ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany, northwestern France.[struck Struck is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Adolf Struck (1877–1911), German author
*Hermann Struck (1876–1944), German artist
*Karin Struck (1947–2006), German author
*Paul Struck (1776-1820), German composer
*Peter Struc ...]
. Hunt received a wound at the third broadside and died of his injuries an hour after the action ended. The British had five killed and ten wounded, the majority of them dangerously. The French had many killed and wounded, among them Captain Boisbertelot, who lost a leg and died of his wounds the next day. Lieutenant John Symons, who took command of ''Unicorn'' on Hunt's death, described ''Vestal'' as having twenty-six 12 and 9-pounder guns on her lower deck, and four 6-pounders on her
quarterdeck
The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...
; she also had a crew of 220 men.
The Royal Navy took ''Vestale'' into service as HMS ''Flora''.
The next day a French frigate approached ''Unicorn'', but then sailed away. The day after that ''Unicorn'' came upon engaging the same French frigate. Although ''Unicorn'' chased the French vessel, which later turned out to be ''L'Aigrette'', she escaped. ''Unicorn'' was hampered in her sailing by the damage to her masts and rigging from the battle with ''Vestale''.
[
]
Fate
After active and continuous service during the Seven Years' War, ''Unicorn'' finally paid off in late 1763, and was broken up in 1771.
Citations
References
* Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. .
* David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. .
* .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unicorn (1748)
1748 ships
Sixth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy
Ships built in Plymouth, Devon