The future of Dundee’s iconic HMS Unicorn has been secured after a huge £1.1 million donation.
The cash from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) will pay for urgent work required for the continued preservation of Scotland’s oldest ship.
There are long-term plans to move HMS Unicorn to nearby East Graving Dock at City Quay.
It is the single largest donation given to the campaign to restore the ship.
Campaigners say the money will secure the future of the vessel in line with national guidelines on ship preservation.
It comes after repairs worth £100,000 were carried out on the ship’s original roof earlier this year.
A US billionaire, John Paul DeJoria – co-founder of Paul Mitchell hair products – previously supported the fundraising efforts with £20,000.
Ray Macfarlane, deputy chair and Scotland trustee of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, said: “HMS Unicorn is a spectacular surviving relic of our maritime heritage.
“Holding nearly 200 years of history within its hull, it is not only the oldest ship in Scotland but one of the oldest in the world, and incredibly one of the last remaining warships from the age of sail, still afloat.
“The National Heritage Memorial Fund is proud to support the Unicorn Preservation Trust with a grant of over £1 million to sustain this great ship for public display.”
The grant has provided just over 95% of the total financial investment needed for immediate conservation repairs to HMS Unicorn.
HMS Unicorn donation ‘absolute game-changer’
Matthew Bellhouse Moran, museum director, said: “This is an absolute game-changer for us as a charity as it allows us to press on with the critical preservation work which desperately needs to take place and is long overdue.”
First launched in 1824, HMS Unicorn is the third oldest ship in the world and has been under the care of the Unicorn Preservation Society since 1968.
