A treasure trove of mystery items, including a Swedish coat of arms and uniforms, has been unearthed on board HMS Unicorn.
The objects were found by staff in the historic Dundee ship’s collection department as they searched through it for an inventory.
Among the artefacts found was a coat of arms from the Swedish late medieval town of Landskrona printed onto a sheet of A4.
Federica Papiccio, HMS Unicorn’s collection officer, said: “The items show the history of the ship.
“The artefacts date from the late 19th Century into the 20th Century.
“I was surprised by the items that came to light. There was so much found. It’s really exciting and they need to be investigated.”
Sailing frigate HMS Unicorn, which is berthed at Victoria Dock, is listed as part of the National Historic Fleet and is one of the six oldest ships in the world.
Work started on the vessel in 1822 and it was launched two years later although it was never rigged.
The only time the vessel went to sea was for its journey from Chatham Dockyard, Kent, to Dundee.
A superstructure was built over the ship and it was laid up before becoming a hulk and a training ship over the next 140 years.
A lack of active duty left HMS Unicorn’s timbers well preserved and in the 1960s plans were drawn up to turn it into a floating museum.
It later emerged that the ship was the only example of a wooden frigate of its type still in existence and plans were drawn up to preserve it in its current condition.
Earlier this month the Unicorn Preservation Society (UPS) received a £28,900 National Lottery Resilient Heritage Fund Grant to help with its work.
The recently found coat of arms relating to Landskrona is believed to come from an exhibition held on HMS Unicorn in 1969.
The collection team also unearthed certificates given to the UPS, historic plaques, medals, old books on navigation and seamanship and outfits.
The future of the newly found items is still to be decided but one idea is that they could go on display on HMS Unicorn.
