HMS Frigate Unicorn
Saturday, 18th November, 2006
To start with we would like to thank Bob, the manager of the ship, for his hospitality and for the time he willingly spent with us talking in depth about the ship's history and paranormal events associated with the Unicorn.
Timeline for the Frigate:
1822 Keel laid
1824 Launched from slipway 4 in Chatham Royal Dockyards on 30th March
1857 Lent to the war department for use as powder hulk at Woolwich
1862 Stored at Sheerness
1873 Towed to Dundee by Paddle Sloop Salamander in November for use as a drill ship
1906 Ownership taken over by the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, known after World War 2 as the new Unified Royal Naval Reserve. The ship had a role during both World Wars as Area Headquarters of the Senior Naval Officer, Dundee.
1939 Name changed to Unicorn 2
1941 Renamed HMS Cressy (renamed to avoid embarrassment to the Navy as an aircraft carrier had been named Unicorn by First Lord of the Admiralty, Earl Stanhope, as he was unaware of the existence of another ship with that name)
1959 Frigate returned to original name of Unicorn
1961 Decision made to scrap the ship as Earl Grey dock was to be filled in for construction of the Tay Road Bridge
1962 Decision changed and Unicorn moved to a new berth
1968 26th September, Prince Phillip accepted HMS Unicorn on behalf of the new Unicorn Preservation Society
1970 Queen Mother visited and agreed to be the society's patron
Paranormal Activity
HMS Frigate Unicorn recently featured on Living TV's 'Most Haunted' programme due to its repuattion for being haunted. Having spoken to the manager we have discovered that various phenomena have indeed been experienced on board ; footsteps have been heard where no-one was present, a small book display case has been thrown onto the floor and the apparition of a sailor has been seen by the manager himself on the upper deck.
The Investigation
Investigators in attendance : Katrina, Natalie, Eric, Martin
This was a joint investigation with Spiritfinders Scotland. There were 8 members of their team also present. We would like to thank them for inviting us along. Their report can be viewed here: Spiritfinders Scotland Unicorn Report
Outside conditions Moon: waning crescent Weather: dry, cold, still
Equipment Used
Camcorder: nightvision Sony HI-8 analogue and Sony DCR-HC35E digital
Digital Cameras: Sony cybershot 3.2mp & Lumicron LDC4013 4.1mp
Digital voice recorder: Olympus VN96OPC set at high quality recording
In/out thermometer: Thermomark
EMF meter: Electrosensor with detection range of 50-60Hz & display range of 1.334-30 milliGauss
Investigation reports
As this was a joint investigation the following report is based on the experiences and observations made by the Paranormal Discovery team.
2050 Three of were us standing outside the ship on quayside. A loud a loud bump is heard from what sounds like inside the ship on the wall towards the stern. No-one was yet inside and the door was locked. There was nothing to suggest that something had hit the outside of the vessel, no wind and the water was still. The object would have to have been quite large to make the noise we heard.
2100 Arrive on board with the manager, Bob. We all stand near the entrance chatting for several minutes. Natalie and Katrina both hear 3 separate bangs coming from the stern of the ship by the toilets/Captain's room.
2120 Spiritfinders Scotland arrive and we start a walkround. As we were going upstairs Natalie hears a shuffling noise by the staircase.
We returned to the Captain's room before commencing vigils. All were preparing to leave and Katrina feels a light touch/tickle on top of her head but doesn't mention this at the time so as not to influence others present. She is seen by Bob smoothing her hair down as if trying to swipe something away and later in the evening he asks her if she had felt something. He informed her that this has happened to others before in various areas of the ship.
2240 Start locked-off camera focused on our trigger object on display case in the shop area. The bookcase which had previously been thrown to the floor by an unseen hand (informed of this by Bob) was also in the frame. Voice recorder also left recording in the same area.
2307 Paranormal Discovery commence vigil on upper deck, Spiritfinders locate to mess deck. Temp. 6.2c but variable due to draughts.
2330 Katrina begins to call out for spirits to make selves known. Dull thud heard. Martin is standing by first stairwell and feels the sensation of something moving over the top of his head.
2335 Martin goes to stand further down towards stern of the ship. He also calls out, calling out various names associated with the vessel.
2340 Light taps heard from corner in stern following asking out for someone called Bishop.
2345 More knocking heard in the same area following the same name. Requested to join other group downstairs where activity was happening.
0100 approx. Martin leaves the mess deck and goes down to the Orlop deck. He senses that something untoward happened here. Shania joins him and senses the spirit of an old man. Dave questions Bob who says that someone is rumoured to have fallen and died in that area.
0115 Relocate to Orlop deck. Temp 6.2.c. Darkest area on ship.
0125 Tap heard from opposite side in passage by slop room.
0140 Return to mess deck to sit quietly. Temp 5.6.c. Nothing untoward witnessed at this time.
02.30 Return to upper deck. Temp 3c but feels colder. Decide to return to the warmth of the Captain's room. Remainder of time spent talking to Bob about the ship's history etc.
Review of findings
Due to the acoustics on board it was very difficult to ascertain where certain sounds were coming from and voices from team members travelled far, even 2-3 decks from where the person was sitting. Several bangs and taps were heard but Bob states that this is common, especially by the windows which are known to creak and make tapping noises. Also when walking on one part of the floor it would cause another area to creak, especially on the upper deck by the stairwells.
There were many windows on the two upper decks and light from outside plus frequent car headlights shining in made it difficult to find any evidence of paranormal activity on video. It was also possible to hear people walking.
For these reasons we felt that all of our video and audio material had been compromised. Neither the trigger object nor the items on the display case moved during the time that they were being filmed.
However, we do feel that our time on board was worthwhile and we feel privileged to have been allowed access to all areas of the ship. Should we be lucky enough to return we will be better prepared and able to accommodate the light sources and acoustics on board.
Photos
Captain's room
Orlop deck - date etched on beam
Stern of ship
Upper deck - area where tapping was heard
Second Investigation
Moon: waxing in Aquarius
Weather: dry, calm, cool
Investigators present: Katrina, Natalie, Alex, Tori, Mike
Equipment used:
Camcorders: nightvision Sony Hi8 analogue, Sony DCR-HC35E digital, Sony HDD SR32E
Digital cameras: Sony cybershot 3.2mp, Lumicron LDC4013 4.1mp, Epson Photopc 2100Z
Digital voice recorders: 2 Olympus set at high quality recording
Thermometers: 2 in/out digital thermometers, Infrared thermometer
Psychic Impression
- Prior to the investigation I picked up on a male spirit that would be the main spirit on the vessel. I felt his name started with ‘G’ and I decided to call him George.
- I picked up on a lot of boys running around working. I felt this may be something to do with the naval reserves. I felt this was purely residual.
- I also picked up on people living on the vessel, again purely residual.
- I was drawn to the upper deck, an area containing hammocks, and the back of the vessel.
- I also picked up on a man who died on the vessel by falling, I wasn’t sure to begin with if he had lost his balance or if he had slipped but as it got closer to the investigation date I was sure he had slipped. I wasn’t sure if this man was ‘George’ or not.
On the investigation
During the investigation I felt a pressure on my head in 2 areas.
Area1: the Captain's Cabin. When I walked in I felt the pressure on my head and at that point my spirit guide indicated that there was a man there, and we had walked into his area. From this point onward I felt that this man was following us around.
Area 2: the Officers' Mess. Again I felt a pressure on my head here. During our vigil in this area I felt there was a man, and had a feeling there may even be more that one man there. As Mike took pictures I saw a few outlines of a man standing near Nat. I had the sensation at one point that there was a man beside me who was moving around more. During one flash I saw a face leaning near Nat looking at her camera with her, again it was a male face.
We also did a vigil by the swinging tables where our trigger objects had been set up earlier. Here I felt the man who had been following us was at the next table and saw the out line of a shoulder. When Katrina closed her view-finder and it got very dark I felt very disoriented. Even though I was looking toward the only light source my eyes couldn’t focus and I was seeing strange colours. I put this down to just being the darkness and my eyes playing tricks on me. I then did start to feel that there was somebody very close to me and I felt rather uncomfortable due to this feeling of disorientation and the close proximity of a spirit.
The top deck - due to noises from outside and a lot of light etc we didn’t stay in this area long but I did see lots of shadows and movement in this area.
After a tour of the ship by Bob, the manager, the team decided to set up trigger objects on one of the tables on the mess deck and to carry out the first vigil onthe top deck, well away from the locked-off camera and voice recorder. Various items were laid out - some drawn around and others placed on a bed of flour in the hope that if movement was detected then the manner in which the item had been moved might be fathomed out. An old-fashioned compass was one of the items filmed to see if the pointer would move at anytime during filming. A security alarm was also activated to rule out any warm-blooded intruders.
The Upper Deck
As before street lamps and car headlights filtered in through the numerous windows. No creaks/taps were heard this time but there was no wind and the water was very still. Tori and Natalie both felt as if there was a male presence with the team on this deck. Calling out yielded no activity.
The Mess Deck
The second vigil in the Officers' Mess was more interesting. Tori felt that there was a male spirit present again and that there may have been more than one present. Natalie felt that one of the men was called Terence. Tori saw the outline of a person standing beside Natalie on more than one occassion - this figure being apparent as the flash of the camera activated. She also saw the face of a man right beside Natalie as she sat at the table. Alex saw several tiny pin points of light with the naked eye in the doorway of the cabin behind him (cabin with 26 on the wall). These were not filmed or photographed and may have been a natural physiological response to the darkness of the environment.
Fairly loud taps were heard twice as if coming from next door in the Mess Deck. This was investigated once and nothing untoward was found and none of the trigger objects had been moved. These taps had not been recorded on the voice recorder so it may be the case that the sounds had originated outside or upstairs perhaps.
The team relocated to the area by the swinging tables on the mess deck. The room was extremely dark except for the green glow from several fire points around the deck. Katrina thought that she had seen a shadow pass in front of her further up the deck in front of the doorway tothe Officers' Mess. This had momentarily obscured the green light visible from that area. Natalie felt a presence behind her and on moving to another table further behind her she stated that whatever she was feeling had moved with her. Tori saw the outline of what she thought was a human shoulder/torso. Tori felt very uncomfortable in the darkness and had the sensation of something being very close to her face and at this point asked for the light to be turned back on.
The Orlop Deck
Although very dark down here in the botttm of the ship and uncomfortable nothing strange was seen, heard or felt in this area.
The Gun Deck
Glass divination was performed here after the necessary protection was put into place. The 3 female investigators only participated in this.
In brief; 3 spirits allegedly made contact. The first was a male spirit who had made himself known to the team several times before. This man was thought to have been associated with a property the team had visited some weeks earlier. This buiding is to be investigated at the end of October and this man has no association with the ship.
The second spirit to communicate may well have been the first one again due to the contradictory answers given to questions asked.
The third spirit to make himself known gave his initials as G B and said that he had lived and worked on the ship in the 20th century but had died elsewhere. He indicated that he was not trapped/grounded on board but was purely visistng the vessel. He also stated that there were 3 spirits associated with the ship with him that night and another 5 present who had no association with the ship. This spirit communicated that he had no message in particular and was making himself known to the team just because he could. He stated that he was not responsible for items being moved on board or for people being touched. Tori felt that this spirit was the George she had thought about before the investigation. Earlier in the evening Katrina and Natalie had been speaking to Bob about George Bishop and how Bob had decided to call the ghost on board George. This was talked about while Tori was out of earshot. However, during this part of the glass divination only Tori and Katrina had their fingers on the glass. The information gained was known to Katrina and in the public domain and so not evidence of paranormal activity.
Summary
- Trigger Objects: none of the objects had moved and the compass needle was not seen to move whilst being filmed.
- Audio: the audio recordings were compromised due to the frequent noises from outside.
- Video: nil of note was caught on video.
- Photo: nothing of relevance was photographed.
- Temperature: no significant rises/drops in temperature were noted
- EMF: no unusual readings/fluctuations were noted.
