HMS Unicorn: Museum Review

HMS Unicorn is Scotland's oldest ship, and we (Endy and I), finally got the chance to visit her during Dundee Open Doors Weekend! She's not like your typical museum, she is literally a 201 year old Frigate. I'll be writing another post about this history of HMS Unicorn, but for today, we're going to take a look at her as a museum.

Location

S Victoria Dock Rd, Dundee DD1 3BP

Date of Visit

September 27th, 2025

First Impressions

I have walked past HMS Unicorn on several occasions but nothing could quite prepare me for stepping on board. We were greeted by one of the lovely volunteers who gave us a a bit of an idea of Unicorn's layout and a couple of safety tips. I will admit though, I was slightly distracted by how beautiful Unicorn is. She's not in the best condition, but neither would you be if you were 201 years old and still had all your original parts.

Exhibits

You're not going to find typical museum style exhibits on HMS Unicorn but there was a selection of objects on display. Unicorn herself is the main attraction though, and onboard you can explore all four of her decks, learn about her history and the efforts that are going in to preserving her. My favourite part though? She still has all of her cannons! She has 28, 18 pound guns on her gun deck, as well as multiple smaller guns.

There are also some examples of different types of shot on display, including a bar shot. The label for this one is slightly creased in the photo I took, but the bar-shot is from a ship which sank in the Shetland Islands. On the label it looks as though it's from a ship called De Letite, however I couldn't find any details about that particular ship. I did however, find Liefde, which sank in a similar location. May be the same ship, may not be, but if that is the case, the bar-shot is roughly 300 years old!

I am biased though, and I know not everyone gets as excited by a cannon as I do. There are plenty of other objects on display and I am looking forward to going back on a quieter day so I can a good look at everything. An honourable mention goes to the model HMS Unicorn (I72).

Accessibility

I'd like to reiterate that HMS Unicorn is a 201 year old Frigate. All parts of her are not going to be accessible for everyone, and that is sometimes the price we pay for preserving history. As you all know I am visually impaired and have fibromyalgia, and personally, I'd rather have things preserved and be inaccessible for me, but that's just my personal view.

I didn't expect HMS Unicorn to be great for accessibility. My usual thought when it comes to accessibility is "Would my mom be able to get around?" You board HMS Unicorn on her gun deck, and yes, my mom would be able to navigate this deck, but that's about it. If you do have mobility issues, the rest of HMS Unicorn isn't going to be easy for you to explore, and honestly, I'd not recommend trying. I was able to get up to the upper deck, however Endy went down to the lower decks on her own. Access to the other decks is via ladder, which you'd expect on a ship and the ceilings get very low. So, please keep that in mind if you are planning a visit.

Tickets & Pricing

Tickets for HMS Unicorn are £9.20 for adults (£8 concession), and £4.60 for children. I think that is a reasonable price, especially when you take into consideration the amount of specialist restoration work HMS Unicorn will need to keep her in one piece.

Final Thoughts

Visiting HMS Unicorn on one of the Open Doors Days meant she was busy, and that is lovely to see! But I do need a bit of extra time to go around museums. I take lots of photos so that I can see things easier at home, especially object labels and such, and I didn't feel like I could do that when we visited, But honestly, that is a good thing! Seeing so many people interested in heritage makes my heart happy. I will definitely be going back soon.

I was bound to enjoy HMS Unicorn, if you know anything about me, it's that I like a ship. No ship will ever come close to my beloved HMS Dreadnought, but HMS Unicorn may have sailed her way into 2nd place in my heart.

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Would you like to see all of the photos I took on HMS Unicorn? Join the History Nook discord server for access to my museum photo archive!