The Unicorn is scuttled and sinks, only to be discovered years later by Tintin and his friends in an attempt to locate Red Rackham's treasure.

The Unicorn was inspired by the 64-gun Brillant, built in 1690 at Le Havre, France by the shipwright Salicon and then decorated by the designer Jean Bérain the Elder.

[3][b] Hergé consulted the archives at the National Museum of Natural History and the then recently published L'Art et le Mer ("Art and the Sea") by Alexandre Berqueman.

[6] It was from the Le Reale de France that he gained a basis for his design of the Unicorn's jolly boat.

[6] However, from 1634 to 1688 the English Royal Navy had a ship of the line named HMS Unicorn[11] which was, coincidentally, commanded by a Captain Haddock.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson was released in October–December 2011.

[13] While sailing in the West Indies in 1676, the Unicorn, commanded by Sir Francis Haddock, is seized and captured by a group of pirates led by Red Rackham.

When anchored near the shore of the island, Sir Francis manages to free himself and goes below deck to the Unicorn's gunpowder stores.

[14] In the present day, Tintin, his dog Snowy, and his friends Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus follow coordinates that Sir Francis had left his three sons in a strange riddle hidden in three model ships of the Unicorn.