Chain of protest

“Your Spotlight on HMS Unicorn featured aerial views of the famous move in 1962 which I believe were taken from the RAF Whirlwind helicopter from Leuchars,” says Roderick Stewart (see photorgraph on the right).

“The aerial views show how tight a fit Unicorn was for the Earl Grey Dock entrance. There had been a debate within the Admiralty as to whether the ship could be moved: one extraordinary idea put forward as a difficulty was that she had developed ‘middle aged spread’ and would not be able to fit back through the lockway. This was nonsense, but allowed an even more extraordinary proposal that she could be broken up by explosive charges in her berth, right by the Fifie terminal.

“In the event, a chain of protest led by my father Captain (then a Commander) Rennie Stewart through retired Captain Jack Anderson to Lord Reith, who had been an RNVR Captain in the Second World War, ended up with Lord Carrington, as First Lord of the Admiralty.

“He decided, against staff advice, that Unicorn should be moved, and so, on November 13 1962, she was towed from Earl Grey Dock to Camperdown Dock as shown in your photographs.

“There had been a further drama the day before: Unicorn’s berth had silted up badly and could only be dredged up to the ship’s side, so the plan was to use the ship herself to pull the remaining mud into a dredged trench.

“As high tide approached, the towing tractor’s wheels could not grip the slippery cassies and the ship remained stuck fast. A team of brawny dockworkers with a last-minute block and tackle proved enough to break the suction of the mud and Unicorn slid clear, though leaving 50 feet of her false keel behind.”

An RAF Whirlwind helicopter from Leuchars taking photographs of HMS Unicorn. See left for details.

The photograph on the right was supplied by Jim Imrie, of Perth, who says: “The picture was taken in the 1950s when wrestling took place regularly at Perth City Hall. “The fight was between George Kidd and the infamous Mick Mcmanus, who featured in...