FACTS & FIGURES

HMS UNICORN, 46 gun, 5th Rate Frigate, Launched 30^th March 1824 at Chatham

Designer	Sir Robert Seppings
	(Surveyor of the Navy 1813-1832)

 

“Built to the lines of the old LEDA” on No. 4 Slip, H.M. Dockyard, Chatham.
Master Shipwright	George Parkin

Armament

Main Deck	28 x 18 pounder long guns
Forecastle	2 x 9 pounder long guns
	2 x 32 pounder carronades
Quarterdeck	2 x 9 pounder long guns
	12 x 32 pounder carronades

 

Weight of Guns, etc.	80 tons 7 cwt
Weight of Gunpowder	11 tons 19 cwt
Weight of Shot	45 tons 10 cwt

Note:  The exact mix of long guns and carronades would have varied from year to year for LEDA class frigates, as Carronades became increasingly popular.

Hull Dimensions

Length of Gun Deck	151 ft 9 3/4 ins
Length between Perps.	140 ft 9 ins
Length of Keel for Tonnage	127 ft 1 1/2 ins
Breadth extreme	40 ft 3 ins
Depth in Hold	12 ft 9 ins
Load Draught – forward	17 ft 6 ins
– aft	19 ft 2 ins
Burthen	1078 tons
Displacement, fully stored	1465 tons 12 quarters
Cost of building the Hull	£26,461
Cost of Materials	£20,831
Cost of Workmanship	£5,630
(Cost of completing the ship for sea in 1824 would have been £39,268)

Masts and Rigging

Height of Main Mast	131 ft 3 ins
Diameter of Main Mast	28 ins
Length of Main Yard	78 ft 9 ins
Total Weight of Masts	47 tons 16 quarters
Length of Rope above 3/4 inch circumference	20,728 fathoms (23 1/2 miles)
Total Weight of Rigging	31 tons 8 quarters
Area of Sails	17,254 square feet
Total Weight of Canvas	6 tons 1 quarter(7,307 yards of canvas)

Scheme of Complement

Captain	1
Lieutenants	5
Warrant Officers	8
Midshipmen & Mates	8
1st Class Petty Officers	31
2nd Class Petty Officers	19
Other Rates	159
Boys	16
Widows’ Men	3

 

Royal Marine Officers	2
Sergeants	2
Other Ranks	46

 

Total War Complement

300 men

Note:  These figures vary from source to source, and from time to time, and also according to whether the ship would have been commissioned for war or peace.

WRS 2009