RSS Discovery & HMS Unicorn
DUNDEE, SCOTLAND
Discovery is most well known as the ship that carried Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their
first unsuccessful trip to reach the South Pole. It was the last wooden three-masted ship to be built in the
British Isles, and the first designed for research. She was later used for research, then as a training ship before
finally resting in the town of her birth, Dundee. Some who say that Shackleton loved the ship so much he never left
and his spirit can still be found there. Many visitors refuse to go into some of the rooms onboard and a bulb over
Shackleton's bunk keeps blowing. Ghostly footsteps can be heard throughout the craft, with opinion split as to
whether the ghost is Shackleton or another sailor, who fell to his death from the crow's nest in 1901.
His Majesty's Frigate Unicorn was built for the Royal Navy in the Royal Dockyard at Chatham, and launched in 1824.
The classic sailing frigate was fast and it was one of the most successful warship designs of the age. The Unicorn
is one of the last survivors from the last flourish of wooden shipbuilding. Activity on this ship has included
people feeling uncomfortable on the decks as if they are being watched. Heavy booted footsteps and dark figures
have often been experienced by many people. Poltergeist activity is known and some staff members refuse to
enter the ship alone.
|