Laid Down: 29th June 1939.
Launched: 20th November 1941.
Completed: 12th March 1943.
Machinery: Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers delivering 40,000shp to 2-shaft Parsons geared turbines.
Displacement: 14,750 tons standard, 20,300 tons deep load.
Dimensions:
Length: 640 feet overall.
Width: 90 feet.
Draught: 24 feet 10 inches maximum.
Armament: Four twin 4inch QF MK 16 HA, four quadruple 2-pounder pompoms, five twin 20mmOerlikon, six single 20mm Oerlikon and four single 3pounder saluting guns.
Performance:
Speed: 24 knots.
Endurance: 7,500 miles at 20 knots.
Crew: 1,300.
Flight Deck: 640 feet by 90 feet.
Hanger: The Upper Hanger: 324 feet by 65 feet wide by 16 feet 6 inches tall.
The Lower Hanger: 360 feet by 62 feet wide by 16 feet 6 inches tall.
Lifts: Two lifts rated at 20,000lbs, one fore and one aft.
Aircraft: 20 in workshops or 35 when operational.
Aircraft stores:None carried during time operating as a repair ship.
Brief History: HMS Unicorn was laid down on 29th June 1939 at Harland & Wolff, Belfast. She was launched in 1941 and completed in March 1943, when she joined the Home Fleet.
In July 1943 she was deployed on Operation Governor off Norway with 887, 818 and 824 NAS to divert German attention from the Mediterranean. In August of that year she was deployed to the Mediterranean and in September participated in Operation Avalanche (the landings at Salerno) with 809, 887, 897 and 818 NAS as part of Force V. In Late September she returned to the UK and was refitted as an aircraft repair carrier.
She sailed from the Clyde at the end of December 1943 for the Far East, arriving in Colombo at the end of January 1944 and acted as aircraft supply and repair ship at Colombo and then Trincomalee. In December 1944 she was allocated to the British Pacific Fleet and arrived in Sydney in February 1945 before sailing with replacement aircraft for the British Pacific Fleet's forward operating base at Manus. She supported 1 ACS during operating in support of the American landings at Okinawa.
In January 1946 she returned to Devonport and was paid off into reserve, being refurbished in 1949 for service in the far East. She sailed for the Fat East with replacement aircraft for HMS Triumph in September 1949, arriving in Singapore in October 1949. She was in Singapore de-storing when North Korea invaded the south in June 1950 and was hastily made ready and sailed for Sasebo with aircraft to sustain operations by HMS Triumph, arriving in Sasebo in July 1950. For more details See HMS Unicorn in Korea.
After the war, she returned to the UK in October 1953 and to Devonport in November where she was paid off into reserve. In march 1957 she was reduced to extended reserve and in 1958 was approved for disposal. She was towed from Devonport on June 1959, arriving at Dalmuir to be stripped on 15th June 1959 and was scrapped in Troon in 1960.
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