A home football match would usually be the main attraction on a Saturday afternoon in Dundee, but on November 13, 1962 some 20,000 people were elsewhere.
The HM Frigate Unicorn, then 140 years old, was being moved from her berth of 89 years at the Earl Grey Dock to make way for the Tay Road Bridge.
The venerable military vessel was eased out into the river under the tow of two Dundee harbour tugs, Castlecraig and Harecraig – the latter under the command of tug captain Stephen Sturrock.
Now the family behind that move is once again playing a key role in the ship’s history as work begins to restore the frigate.
Mr Sturrock’s daughter, June Duncan, is director of Broughty Ferry firm A&J Maintenance Support Limited, which has clad the ship in scaffolding.
The firm said it was “honoured” to have been chosen to be part of a one-of-a-kind restoration project which will breathe new life into the Unicorn.
Though the focus of maritime interest is often upon the exploration ship Discovery, the frigate is in fact one of the six oldest ships in the word and the only wooden warship in Scotland.
Built for the Royal Navy and launched in 1824, she would have been one of the elite ships of her day, boasting speed and 46 powerful guns.
In a quirk of fate, however, she was introduced into service at a time of peace, was never fitted with her sails and became a training ship based at Dundee, where she has remained.
Now the £45,000 refurbishment that will take place beneath the scaffolding will see her transformed into a community hub at the heart of the city’s waterfront development.
Over the years the “very old lady” has become weather-beaten and worn, but damage to her roof and sides will be repaired.
The facilities inside her are also being upgraded, with work already started by the Unicorn Preservation Society, which was granted £44,993 by the SITA Trust to accomplish the project.
Mackay Boat Builders – who helped restore the RRS Discovery – will be leading the team who will painstakingly restore the ship.
Back in 1962, the Unicorn presented an altogether different challenge as over her 89 years in Earl Grey Dock she had become embedded in a bank of mud so deep that it could occasionally be seen above water at low tide.
In order to move the ship a trench was dredged alongside with the aim of using the ship herself to push the remaining mudbank into the trench as she was dragged away from the dock wall.
A tractor and giant harness and some “heavyweight dock workers” were required to accomplish the task.
The next day she was eased out into the river under tow to a temporary berth in Camperdown Dock and then the following year on a shorter journey to Victoria Dock.
