HMS Unicorn (I72) - Post-war

Post-war

In 1949, Unicorn was reactivated for service in the Far East, in support of the carrier Triumph. She sailed from HMNB Devonport on 22 September with a cargo of Seafires and Fireflies. When the Korean War broke out in June 1950, the ship was disembarking aircraft, equipment and her maintenance personnel at RAF Sembawang, Singapore in preparation to return home and then to reserve. The Admiralty ordered her to be used as a replenishment carrier to ferry replacement aircraft and supplies to the Royal Navy and Commonwealth aircraft carriers operating in Korean waters. Unicorn left Singapore on 11 July and arrived at Sasebo, Japan on 20 July and transferred seven Seafires and five Fireflies to Triumph. In August, the ship ferried the 1st Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and the Headquarters of the 27th Brigade from Hong Kong to Pusan, arriving on 29 August. She delivered supplies to Sasebo before returning to Singapore to begin a refit.

Unicorn resumed her duties in December, carrying about 400 troops in addition to the usual aircraft, stores and equipment. She was used by pilots for deck-landing practice en route. In March, she ferried the Gloster Meteor jet fighters of No. 77 Squadron RAAF to Iwakuni, Japan. The ship remained there for the next three months so she could be used as an accommodation ship. Afterwards, Unicorn resumed her role as a ferry carrier. Whilst transiting the Shimonoseki Strait on 2 October, she destroyed the overhead power cables stretching between Honshu and Kyushu as they were sagging lower than normal due to a heavy snowfall. On 21 November, Unicorn and the carrier Warrior exchanged crews at Singapore and the ship began a refit shortly afterwards. After her refit was completed on 20 January 1952, she returned to her ferry duties. In April, she was "adopted" by the Middlesex Regiment (possibly one of only three ships to be honoured by an Army regiment). During operations by Ocean in July, the ship acted as a spare flight deck to allow for damaged aircraft to land without disrupting the strike operations. She arrived back at Singapore on 27 July to load more replacement aircraft, including Meteors, and sailed on 9 August for Japan. During September, Unicorn borrowed four of Ocean's Hawker Sea Fury fighters to fly combat air patrols over the fleet whilst the latter ship conducted strike operations. She was docked for maintenance in October, and embarked the First Sea Lord, Admiral Rhoderick McGrigor and the Commander-in-Chief, Far East Station for a tour of Commonwealth forces in Japan. At one point, Unicorn became the only aircraft carrier to conduct a shore bombardment during wartime when she engaged North Korean coastwatchers at Chopekki Point.

The ship returned to Singapore for another refit on 15 December and did not leave Singapore until 17 July 1953. On 26 July, en route for Japan, Unicorn received a distress call from SS Inchkilda, saying that she was under attack by pirates. The carrier closed on the freighter's position at high speed and the pirates abandoned their prize when Unicorn circled the freighter with all guns bearing at less than 3,000 yards (2,700 m). The Korean Armistice Agreement came into effect the following day, but the ship accompanied Ocean on two patrols on 30 July and 25–29 August to monitor North Korean compliance with the terms of the armistice. She sailed for home on 15 October and arrived at Devonport on 17 November, where she returned to reserve.