The Unicorn (La Licorne in French) is a fictional three-masted armed navy vessel appearing in The Adventures of Tintin comic books The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure published in 1943 and 1944, respectively. The vessel has a leading role in both of the forementioned stories.
Hergé's Unicorn design was inspired by Le Brillant built in 1690 at Le Havre, France. Hergé used the services of a local model maker to find an appropriate French ship who customized the ship to meet the historical needs stated by Hergé. The address to obtain the plans for the ship, along with other information was published in an article in Amis de Hergé magazine, June 1989.[1]
In the English version the Unicorn was a 17th century navy vessel that sailed under the Union Jack and was commanded by Sir Francis Haddock. In the original French version as well as in many international versions of the story the ship flew the French flag and was commanded by Chevalier François de Hadoque. Regardless of the language or version, the commander of the vessel is an ancestor of Captain Haddock, one of the main characters.
In The Secret of the Unicorn the Unicorn was seized and captured by a group of pirates led by Red Rackham. As the pirates boarded they hoisted a red pennant signalling that no life would be spared. During the battle Sir Francis was hit by a pulley and lost consciousness.
After the battle the members of the Unicorn crew still alive were killed or thrown overboard. Sir Francis regained consciousness, finding himself tied to the mainmast. The pirate ship was damaged and sinking, so Red Rackham moved his treasure onboard the Unicorn. After this the ship sailed towards an uninhabited island.
When anchored near the shore of the island, Sir Francis managed to free himself and went below deck to the gunpower stores. Whilst there, he encountered Rackham for the final time, killing him in a swordfight. Before leaving the ship and escaping in a small boat, he was able to set fire to the gunpowder by means of a slow-burning fuse, causing the ship (with Rackham's drunken crew still aboard) to explode and sink.
The model-maker whom Hergé approached to help create the "Licorne" was a man by the name of Gerard Liger-Belair, a Frenchman who owned and operated a hobby store in Brussels at the time. Thanks to his knowledge, expertise and interest in old ships, and his model ship building experience, Liger-Belair was able to create the ideal ship that Hergé required. A special 2-in-1 edition of "Red Rackham's Treasure" and "The Secret of The Unicorn" was published, featuring the original blueprints of the "Licorne", as drawn by Gerard Liger-Belair, and other details about the making of these two Tintin "episodes".