|
|
|
|
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
|
| |
|
| |
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, or simply the 'QE2', is a retired Cunard ocean liner, now owned by Nakheel, a division of Dubai World. She was named after the earlier Cunard liner (although accounts vary, see Name section), and served as the flagship of the line from 1969 until succeeded by in 2004. Built in Clydebank, Scotland, she was considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners prior to the construction of the QM2.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'RMS Queen Elizabeth 2' Start a new discussion about 'RMS Queen Elizabeth 2' Answer questions from other users |
Recent Posts
Encyclopedia
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, or simply the 'QE2', is a retired Cunard ocean liner, now owned by Nakheel, a division of Dubai World. She was named after the earlier Cunard liner (although accounts vary, see Name section), and served as the flagship of the line from 1969 until succeeded by in 2004. Built in Clydebank, Scotland, she was considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners prior to the construction of the QM2. Before she was refitted with a diesel power plant in 1986, she was also the last oil-fired passenger steamship to cross the Atlantic in scheduled liner service. During almost 40 years of service, the QE2 travelled the world and latterly operated predominantly as a cruise ship, sailing out of Southampton, England. She had no identical sister ship or running mate and never ran a weekly transatlantic express service to New York as did previous large Cunarders. She retired from active service on 27 November 2008 to begin conversion to a floating hotel, and will eventually be moored at Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.
Characteristics
The ship has a and is 963 ft (294 m) long. She had a top speed of using her original steam turbine powerplant, which was increased to when the vessel was re-engined with a diesel electric powerplant.
History
Concept and construction
By the mid 1960s transatlantic travel was dominated by air travel due to its speed and low cost relative to the sea route, and expansion of air travel showed no signs of slowing down. Conversely, the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were becoming increasingly expensive to operate, and both internally and externally were relics of the pre-war years. However, Cunard did not want to give up the business of passenger service, and so gambled $80 million on a new ocean liner to replace the original Queens, as well as to compete with the French Line's .
Realising the decline of transatlantic trade, and the rising costs of fuel and labour, Cunard decided their new ship had to be smaller and cheaper to operate than her predecessors; the design requirements of the new ship were that she was to run at the same service speed of as the previous Queens, use half the fuel of the older ships, and draw seven foot less draft to allow her to enter ports that the old Queens could not. The new liner was to have the ability to pass through the Panama Canal. Originally designated Q4 (a previous ship design Q3 had been abandoned due to falling passenger revenues on the North Atlantic), she was to be a three-class liner. However, looking to the France, designs were changed to make Q4 a two-class liner that could be modified into a single-class cruise ship, thereby allowing the ship to ply the Atlantic during the peak summer season, as well as warmer waters during the winter.
The Queen Elizabeth 2 was built by the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders in the John Brown Shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland. Her keel was laid down on 5 July 1965, as hull number 736 in the same plot that had been used to build Lusitania, Aquitania, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. She was launched and named on 20 September 1967 by Queen Elizabeth II, using the same pair of gold scissors her mother and grandmother used to launch the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary, respectively. On 19 November 1968 she left John Brown's fitting out berth, and sailed down the River Clyde to the Firth of Clyde Dry Dock at Inchgreen, Greenock, for final trials and commissioning. After sea trials in the Irish Sea a "Mini maiden voyage" to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria set out on 22 April 1969.
Service history
The Queen Elizabeth 2's maiden voyage, from Southampton to New York City, commenced on May 2 1969, taking 4 days, 16 hours and 35 minutes. However, Prince Charles was the first "civilian" passenger to board the ship, on her voyage from the shipyard in Clydebank to drydock in Greenock. On board for the short journey was her Master Designate and first captain, William (Bil) Warwick. In 1971, she participated in the rescue of some 500 passengers from the burning French Line ship Antilles.
On 17 May 1972, while travelling from New York to Southampton, she was the subject of a bomb threat. She was searched by her crew, and a bomb disposal team parachuted into the sea near the ship. No bomb was found, but the hoaxer was arrested by the FBI. This incident went on to inspire the 1974 Richard Lester feature film Juggernaut. The following year the QE2 undertook two chartered cruises through the Mediterranean to Israel in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the state's founding. One kitchen on the ship was koshered for Passover, and Jewish passengers were able to celebrate Passover on the ship.
In April 1982, she took part in the Falklands War, carrying 3,000 troops and 650 volunteer crew to the south Atlantic. She was refitted in Southampton in preparation for war service, including the installation of three helicopter pads, the transformation of public lounges into dormitories, fuel pipes ran through the ship down to the engine room to allow for refuelling at sea, and the covering of carpets with 2,000 sheets of hardboard. Over 650 Cunard crewmembers volunteered for the voyage to look after the 3,000 members of the Fifth Infantry Brigade, which the ship transported to South Georgia. During the voyage the ship was blacked out and the radar switched off in order to avoid detection, steaming on without modern aids.
She returned to the UK in June 1982, where she was greeted in Southampton Water by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother on board the Royal Yacht Britannia. Peter Jackson, the captain of the QE2 responded to the Queen Mother's welcome: "Please convey to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, our thanks for her kind message. Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 is proud to have been of service to Her Majesty's Forces." The ship underwent conversion back to passenger service, with her funnel being painted in the traditional Cunard orange-red with black stripes, but her hull painted an unconventional light charcoal grey. This colour proved difficult to maintain, and so was reverted to traditional colours in 1983.
On 7 August 1992, her hull was extensively damaged when she ran aground south of Cuttyhunk Island near Martha's Vineyard, while returning from a five day cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia along the east coast of the United States and Canada. A combination of her speed, an uncharted shoal and underestimating the increase in the ship's draft due to the so-called squat effect led to the ship's hull scraping rocks on the ocean floor. The accident resulted in the passengers being evacuated at nearby Newport, Rhode Island and the ship being taken out of service while repairs were made in drydock. Several days later, divers found red paint on previously uncharted rocks in the vicinity of where the ship was said to have hit bottom.
By the mid 1990's it was decided that QE2 was due for a new look and in 1994 the ship was given a multi-million dollar refurbishment in Hamburg. QE2 emerged from the refit having every major public room refurbished. She also appeared for the first time with a Royal Blue hull. In 1995, she encountered a freak wave, estimated at 90ft, caused by Hurricane Luis in the North Atlantic Ocean.
One year later, during her twentieth world cruise, she passed her four millionth mile mark. The ship had sailed the equivalent of 185 times around the planet.
The QE2 celebrated the 30th anniversary of her maiden voyage in Southampton in 1999. In three decades she had 1,159 voyages, sailed 4,648,050 nautical miles (5,347,018 mi, 8,605,209 km) and carried over 2 million passengers.
In late 1999, QE2 was treated to a multi-million dollar refurbishment which included refreshing various public rooms, and a new colour palate in the passenger cabins. This refit also included the mammoth task of a complete hull strip (back to the bare metal) and repaint in traditional Cunard colours of matte black with a white superstructure.
While she was taken off the traditional "transatlantic" route (which was taken over by the in 2004) the QE2 still undertook an annual world cruise and regular trips around the Mediterranean. At the end of her 2005 world cruise, certain pieces of her artwork were damaged when some crew members who had become inebriated at an onboard crew party, went on a vandalism rampage through the public areas of the ship. A unique tapestry of Queen Elizabeth II, commissioned for the launch of the ship, was thrown overboard. Further, an oil painting of the QE2 and two other tapestries were damaged, along with a part of the entertainment area and a lifeboat. The crew members involved were dismissed from service, with charges pending.
On 5 November 2004 the QE2 became Cunard's longest express liner, surpassing the 's 35 years.
On 4th September 2005, whilst visiting the port of Sydney, NS, QE2 became the longest serving Cunarder ever, surpassing the 's record.
On 20 February 2007 the QE2, while on her annual world cruise, met her running mate and successor flagship QM2 (herself on her maiden world cruise) in Sydney Harbour, Australia. This was the first time two Cunard Queens had been together in Sydney since the original Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth served as troop ships in 1941.
On 3 October 2008, Queen Elizabeth 2 set off from Cork for Douglas Bay on her farewell tour of the British Isles, before heading for Liverpool. She left Liverpool and arrived in Belfast on 4 October 2008, before moving to Greenock the next day (The ship's height with funnel makes it impossible to pass under the Erskine Bridge so Clydebank is not reachable). She then sailed around Scotland to the Firth of Forth on 7 October 2008, where she anchored in the shadow of the Forth Bridge. The next day, following an RAF flypast, she left amidst a flotilla of small craft to head to Newcastle upon Tyne, before returning to Southampton.
QE2 left Southampton for the last time on 11 November 2008, seen off by a huge fireworks display, a flotilla of smaller craft and a crowd estimated in the thousands. Earlier in the day, she had run aground on a sand bank her way into port, but diving inspections revealed no damage.
At the time of her retirement in November 2008, QE2 had sailed over six million miles, carried 2.5 million passengers and completed 806 trans-Atlantic crossings.
Retirement
As Queen Elizabeth 2 approached her 40th anniversary with Cunard, questions began to circulate as to how much longer the ship could stay in service. Cunard had to consider the economics of maintaining a 40-year-old liner in service, particularly with the new SOLAS safety regulations that would apply from 2010 onward.
On 18 June 2007 it was announced that the ship had been purchased by the Dubai investment company Istithmar for $100 million. Her final voyage from Southampton to Dubai began on 11 November 2008, arriving on 26 November in time for her official handover the following day. She will now be refurbished and berthed permanently at the Palm Jumeirah as a "a luxury floating hotel, retail, museum and entertainment destination." The refurbishments will see the QE2 transformed into a must-see tourist destination in Dubai.
In a ceremonial display before her retirement, the QE2 met the and the Queen Mary 2 near the Statue of Liberty in New York City harbour on 13 January 2008, with a celebratory fireworks display; the QE2 and QV had made a tandem crossing of the Atlantic for the meet. This marked the first time three Cunard Queens have been present in the same location, and Cunard stated this will be the last time these three particular ships will meet, due to the impending retirement of the QE2. However, due to a change in the QE2's schedule, the three ships met again in Southampton on 22 April 2008. QE2 shared the harbour at Zeebrugge with Queen Victoria on 19th July 2008.
Other memorable farewell cruises include the 2008 world cruise and Round Britain Farewell. On 5 October 2008, during her Round Britain Farewell, the QE2 returned to the Firth of Clyde for her final visit to Greenock where she had been commissioned, down the River Clyde from Clydebank where she had been built. She was escorted by HMS Manchester and visited by MV Balmoral. The farewell was viewed by large crowds and concluded with a firework display.
QE2 completed her final trans-Atlantic crossing from New York to Southampton in tandem with her successor, QM2. The two liners departed New York on October 16th and arrived in Southampton on October 22nd. This marked the end of QE2's trans-Atlantic voyages.
Final voyage
On her final arrival into Southampton, QE2 (on 11 November, 2008, with 1,700 passengers and 1,000 crew on board) ran aground in the Solent at the Southampton Water entrance at 5.26am. BBC reported "Cunard has confirmed it touched the bottom at the Brambles Turn sandbank (sandback) near Calshot, Southampton Water, with three tugs attached to her stern (0530 GMT). A fourth tug secured a line to the ship's bow." Solent Coastguard stated: "Five tugs were sent out to assist her getting off the sandbank, and she was pulled off just before 6.10am. She has been re-floated and is under way under her own power and heading back to her berth in Southampton. She had only partially gone aground, and the tugs pulled her off."
Once safely back at her berth, preparations continued for her farewell celebrations. These were led by the Duke of Edinburgh who toured the ship at great length. He visited areas of interest including the Engine Control Room. He also met with current and former crew members. During this time, divers were sent down to inspect the hull for any possible damage caused by the vessel's earlier mishap - none was found.
The QE2 left Southampton Docks for the final time at 1915 GMT on 11 November 2008, to begin her farewell voyage (aptly named "QE2's Last Voyage" . Her ownership passed to Nakheel Properties, a company of Dubai World, on 26 November. The decommissioning of the ship was particularly poignant for the QE2s only permanent resident, Beatrice Muller, aged 89, who lived on-board in retirement for 14 years, at a cost of some £3,500 (~€4300, ~$5400) per month.
QE2 arrived in Dubai on the evening of 26 November 2008 in a flotilla of 120 smaller vessels, led by MV Dubai, the personal yacht of Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Dubai. She was greeted with a fly-past from an Emirates Airbus A380 jet and a huge fireworks display, while thousand of people gathered at the Mina Rashid, waving the flags of Great Britain and the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai
Since her arrival in Dubai QE2 has remained moored at Port Rashid. Shortly after her final passengers were disembarked, she was moved forward to the cargo area of the port, to free up the passenger terminal for other cruise vessels.
Presently, QE2 remains an ocean going vessel, and as such, Ronald Warwick (former Captain of QE2, QM2 and retired Commodore of the Cunard Line) has been employed by V-Ships (who are managing QE2 during her de-fit) as the vessels legal master.
It is currently anticipated that QE2 will be moved to the Dubai Drydocks in early 2009 to begin a series of far-reaching refurbishments which will result in her being converted into a floating hotel. Upon completion she will be moved to The Palm Jumeirah to take up residence at the QE2 Precinct.
Due to the 2008 Global Recession, fears have been sparked that QE2's refurbishment and hotel conversion will not take place, and that the ship may be resold. These rumours have since resulted in owners, Nakheel, issuing a series of press releases stating that plans for QE2's conversion are ongoing, with no intention to sell.
Design
Exterior
Like both the Normandie and France, the QE2 has a flared stem and clean forecastle. One innovation that made her distinct from all other ships (until the QM2 was launched) is her funnel, which bears at its base an upward turned wind scoop that uses the forward motion of the ship to push air directly up the flanks of the funnel to catch the exhaust and disperse it far above the aft passenger decks. What was controversial at the time was that Cunard decided not to paint the funnel with the line's distinctive colour and pattern, something that had been done on all merchant vessels since the first Cunard ship, the , sailed in 1840. Instead the funnel was painted white and black, with the Cunard orange-red appearing only on the inside of the wind scoop. This practice ended in 1983 when the QE2 returned from service in the Falklands War, and the funnel has been painted in Cunard orange-red with black horizontal bands (known as "hands") ever since. The original pencil-like funnel was replaced in 1986 with a more robust one, when the ship was converted from steam to diesel power.
Large amounts of aluminium were used in the framing and cladding of the QE2s superstructure. This decision was designed to save weight, reducing the draft of the ship and lowering the fuel consumption, but it also posed the possibility of corrosion problems that can occur with joining the dissimilar metals together, so a jointing compound was coated between the steel and aluminium surfaces to prevent this happening. The low melting point of aluminium caused concern when the QE2 was serving as a troop ship during the Falklands War: some feared that if the ship were struck by a missile, as was , her upper decks would collapse quickly due to fire, thereby causing greater casualties.
In 1972, the first penthouse suites were added in an aluminium structure on Signal Deck and Sports Deck (now "Sun Deck"), behind the ship's bridge, and in 1977 this structure was expanded to include more suites with balconies, making the QE2 one of the first ships to offer private terraces to passengers since the SS Normandie in the 1930s, whose balconies were hidden in what would have been her promenade deck. QE2s balcony accommodation was expanded for the final time during QE2's 1986/87 refurbishment in Bremerhaven.
Original interiors
The Queen Elizabeth 2s interior configuration was laid out in a horizontal fashion, similar to the SS France, where the spaces dedicated to the two classes were spread horizontally on specific decks, in contrast to the vertical class divisions of older liners. Where the QE2 differed from the France was that the first class deck (Quarter Deck) was below the deck dedicated to tourist class (Upper Deck). Originally there were to be main lounges serving three classes, layered one atop the other, but when Cunard decided to make the ship a two-class vessel, only two main lounges were needed. Instead of completely reconfiguring the Boat Deck, the ship's architects simply opened a well in the deck between what were to have been the second and third class lounges, creating a double-height space known as the Double Room, now the Grand Lounge. This too was unconventional in that it designated a grander two-storey space for tourist class passengers, while first class passengers gathered in the standard height Queen's Room. However, the configuration for segregated Atlantic crossings gave first class passengers the theatre balcony on Boat Deck, while tourist class used the orchestra level on Upper Deck.
Over the span of her 39-year sea-going career, the QE2 has had a number of interior refits and alterations.
The year she came into service, 1969, was also the year of the Apollo 11 mission, when the Concorde's prototype was unveiled, and the previous year Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered. In keeping with those times, originally Cunard broke from the traditional interiors of their previous liners for the QE2, especially the Art Deco style of the previous Queens. Instead modern materials like plastic laminates, aluminium, and Plexiglas were used. Furniture was modular and abstract art was used throughout public rooms and cabins.
The Midships Lobby on Two Deck, where first class passengers boarded for transatlantic journeys and all passengers boarded for cruises, was a circular room with a sunken seating area in the centre with green leather clad banquettes, and surrounded by a chrome railing. As a king-pin to this was a flared, white, trumpet-shaped, up-lit column. Another room where the QE2s advanced interior design was demonstrated was the first class lounge, the Queen's Room on Quarter Deck. This space, in colours of white and tan, featured a recessed, slotted ceiling, and indirect lighting. As well, the columns were flared in the same fashion as the one in the Midships Lobby, with recessed up-lighting, and also reflecting the shape of the bases of the tables and leather shell chairs. The Theatre Bar on Upper Deck featured red chairs, red drapes, a red egg-crate fibreglass screen, and even a red baby grand piano. Some more traditional materials like wood veneer were used as highlights throughout the ship, especially in passenger corridors and staterooms.
There was also an Observation Bar on Quarter Deck, a successor to its namesake, located in a similar location, on both previous Queens, which offered views through large windows over the ship's bow. This room was lost in the QE2s 1972 refit, becoming kitchen space with the forward-facing windows plated over.
In the 1994 refit almost all of the remaining original decor was replaced, with Cunard opting to reverse the original design direction of the QE2s designers and use the line's traditional ocean liners as inspiration. The green velvet and leather Midships Bar became the Art Deco inspired Chart Room, receiving an original, custom-designed piano from the Queen Mary. The (by now) blue-dominated Theatre Bar was transformed into the Golden Lion Pub, which mimics a traditional Edwardian pub.
By the time of her retirement, the Synagogue was the only room that had remained unaltered since 1969. However it was reported that during QE2s 22 October 5-night voyage, the Synagogue was carefully dismantled before being removed from the ship prior to her final sailing to Dubai.
Artwork and artifacts
The Queen Elizabeth 2 holds pieces of artwork, as well as maritime artefacts drawn from Cunard's long history of operating merchant vessels.
In the Mauretania Restaurant sits Althea Wynne's sculpture of the White Horses of the Atlantic Ocean. There are bronze busts of both Sir Samuel Cunard (outside the Yacht Club) and Queen Elizabeth II (in the Queen's Room). The Princess Grill holds four life-size statues of human forms representing the four elements, done by sculptor Janine Janet in marine materials like shell and coral. The Chart Room's frieze was designed by Brody Nevenshwander, and depicts the words of T. S. Eliot, Sir Francis Drake, and John Masefield. The Midships Lobby holds a solid silver model of the Queen Elizabeth 2 made by Asprey of Bond Street in 1975, that was lost until a photograph was found in 1997 that led to the discovery of the model itself, and its placement on the QE2 in 1999. In "E" stairway hangs three custom designed tapestries, commissioned from Helena Barynina Hernmarck for the ship's launch, that depict the Queen as well as the launch of the ship. These tapestries, which were originally hung in "D" Stairway, Quarter Deck, outside the Columbia Restaurant, were damaged, and one thrown overboard, in 2005, as mentioned in the Service history (above). They were originally made with golden threads however much of this was lost when they were cleaned incorrectly as part of the 1987 refit.
There are also numerous photographs, oils and pastels of members of the Royal Family throughout the vessel, and silver plaques commemorating the visits of every member of the Royal Family, as well as other dignitaries like South African president Nelson Mandela.
Amongst the artefacts on board is a set of antique Japanese armour presented to the QE2 by the Governor of Kagoshima, Japan, during her 1979 world cruise, and a Wedgwood vase presented to the ship by Lord Wedgwood.
From previous Cunard ships are a brass relief plaque with a fish motif from the , as well as an Art Deco bas-relief titled Winged Horse and Clouds, by Norman Foster for the . There is also a vast array of Cunard postcards, porcelain, flatware, boxes, linen, and Lines Bros Ltd Tri-anic model ships. One of her key pieces is a replica of the figurehead from Cunard's first ship, the , carved from Quebec yellow pine by Cornish sculptor Charles Moore, and presented to the ship by Lloyds of London. On Upper Deck sits the silver Boston Commemorative Cup, presented to the Britannia by the City of Boston in 1840. This cup was lost for decades until being found in a pawn shop in Halifax, Nova Scotia. On "2" Deck is a bronze entitled Spirit of the Atlantic which was designed by Barney Seale for the second . A large wooden plaque was presented to the QE2 by First Sea Lord Sir John Fieldhouse to commemorate the ship's service in the Falklands War.
There is also an extensive collection of large scale models of Cunard ships throughout the QE2.
Crew accommodation
The majority of crew are accommodated in mostly two, and some four, berth cabins, with showers and toilets at the end of the alleyway. These are located forward and aft on Decks 3, 4, and 5 as well as along 6 Deck. Cabins in the aft end of the vessel are subject to severe noise and vibration owing to their proximity to the propellers.
Accommodation is very basic due to the ship's age. Unlike the passenger areas, crew accommodation has seen little renovation in the Queen Elizabeth 2's 40 years of service.
There are three crew bars, one nicknamed "The Pig & Whistle" ("The Pig" for short), "Castaways" and the Fo'c's'le Club, and for Officers there is The Wardroom.
Officers are accommodated in single cabins with private en suite bathrooms. Cabins for Intermediate and some Senior Hotel Officers are located on 1 Deck forward, where the Crew Purser's Office is also located, and on Sports Deck. The most forward of the 1 Deck cabins are subject to noise from the fog horn (situated on the fo'c's'le), which is active in time of foggy weather. Cabins for Deck Officers are located on Boat Deck forward and cabins for Engineering Officers are located on Sun Deck Amidships.
Technical
After the ship was launched, the QE2 was fitted out with a steam-turbine powerplant utilising three Foster Wheeler E.S.D II boilers, which would provide steam for the two Brown-Pametrada turbines rated with a maximum power output figure of 110,000 shaft horsepower (normally operating at 94,000hp) coupled to two, six-bladed, fixed-pitch propellers.
The steam powerplant had been plagued by problems from the time the ship was launched and would consume 600 tons of fuel oil every 24 hours. The availability to source spare parts was becoming difficult due to the outdated design of her boilers and turbines. After seventeen years of service Cunard decided that the options were to either replace the Queen or re-engine her with a more efficient diesel-electric powerplant. The latter was selected, as it would allow the ship to operate for another twenty years and was a cheaper solution, and would return the Queen to service in six months, rather than waiting several years for a shipyard to design and build a new ship from the keel up.
During the ship's 1986-to-1987 refit, the old powerplant was removed and scrapped. She then was fitted with nine German MAN L58/64 nine-cylinder, medium-speed diesel engines, each weighing approximately 120 tons. Using a diesel-electric configuration, each engine drives a G.E.C. generator, each developing 10.5 MW of electrical power at 10,000 volts. This electrical plant, in addition to powering the ship's auxiliary and hotel services through transformers, drives the two main propulsion motors, one on each propeller shaft. These motors produced 44 MW and are of synchronous salient-pole construction, nine meters in diameter and weigh more than 400 tons each. The typical service speed of could be maintained using only seven of the diesel-electric sets. Her maximum power output with the new engine configuration running was now 130,000hp, which is greater than the previous system's 110,000hp. Using the same IBF-380 (Bunker 'C') fuel, the new configuration yielded a 35% fuel saving over the previous system. During the retrofit, her funnel was replaced by a wider one in order to accommodate the exhaust pipes for the nine B&W diesel engines.
Also during retrofit, the fixed-pitch propellers were replaced with variable-pitch types. The old steam powerplant required astern turbines to move the ship backwards or stop her moving forward. The pitch of the new variable-pitch blades, however, could simply be reversed, causing a reversal of propeller thrust while maintaining the same direction of propeller rotation, allowing the ship better stopping times and improved handling characteristics.
The new propellers originally were fitted with Grim Wheels, which were free-spinning propeller blades that were fitted behind the main propellers with long vanes protruding from the centre hub. These were designed to recover lost propeller thrust and reduce fuel consumption by 2.5 to 3%. However, after the trial of these wheels, when the ship was drydocked, the majority of the vanes on each wheel were discovered to have broken off, and so the wheels were removed and the project abandoned.
Other machinery includes nine heat-recovery boilers, coupled with two oil-fired boilers to produce steam for heating fuel, domestic water, swimming pools, laundry equipment, and kitchens. Four flash evaporators and a reverse-osmosis unit desalinate sea water to produce 1000 tons of fresh water daily. There is also a sanitation system and sewage disposal plant, air conditioning plant, and an electro-hydraulic steering system.
Name
Form of name
The name of the liner as it appears on the bow and stern is the Queen Elizabeth 2, with lower case lettering and an Arabic numeral 2 as opposed to the Roman numeral II. As such, it is commonly pronounced in speech as "Queen Elizabeth Two". Soon after launching, the name was shortened in common use as the QE2.
Due to various historical precedents of Cunard and other ship naming practices, and other occurrences surrounding the launch ceremony and form of the name of the QE2, various accounts contradict the exact meaning of the name of the QE2, as to whether the liner is named as the second liner named Queen Elizabeth, or after the reigning monarch that named the ship, Queen Elizabeth II.
Background
In 1934 the Queen Mary was named by and after Queen Mary (Mary of Teck) and in 1938 the Queen Elizabeth was named by and after Queen Elizabeth (Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future Queen Mother), who were both at the time of the naming serving Queen consorts to a reigning King. These two previous Cunarders both had capitalised bow names, as QUEEN ELIZABETH and QUEEN MARY.
Cunard practice at the time of naming the QE2 was to re-use the existing name of its former ships, for example, launching the Mauretania in 1938 after the previous Mauretania was scrapped in 1935.
The original Queen Elizabeth liner was still in service with Cunard when the QE2 was launched in 1967, although she was retired and sold before the QE2 entered revenue service wth Cunard in 1969.
The addition of a 2 in this manner was unknown at the time, but it was not unknown for Roman numerals to denote ships in service with the same name. Two non- Cunard ships were named Queen Mary II, a Clyde steamer, and Mauretania II, a Southampton steamer of Red Funnel, both to allow Cunard to use the original names without Roman numerals.
Launch
As was Cunard practice at the time, the name of the liner was not to be publicly revealed until the launch Dignitaries were invited to the "Launch of Cunard Liner No. 736" (and no name was painted on the bow at the time of launch)).
The Queen launched the ship with the words "I name this ship Queen Elizabeth the Second.", which is the normal short form of address of the monarch, Elizabeth II herself.
The following day, the BBC reported the Queen had named the liner after herself, and the New York Times and the British Times newspapers printing the name as "Queen Elizabeth II", which is the short form of written style of the monarch.
By 1968, before the ship had left the shipyard but following the launch ceremony, the liner was wearing the name Queen Elizabeth 2 on her bow.
1969 authorised biography
In an authorised biography of the QE2 published in 1969, various explanations of events occur.
These state that, as at the launch ceremony, an envelope and card was also held in New York in case of transmission failure, and when opened was found to read the name Queen Elizabeth, and the decision to add "The Second" to the name was an alteration by the Queen. The book quotes the Cunard chairman Sir Basil Smallpiece as saying "The Queen Mary [named] after her Grandmother, the Queen Elizabeth after her mother, and now this magnificent ship after herself"
Following the unexpected addition of the Second by the Queen, the book attributes the use of lower case lettering and an numeric 2 - rather than a Roman II - to the decision by Cunard to use a more modern typeface to suit the style of the 1960s. The book also surmises that the naming of the liner after the reigning monarch, in the form Queen Elizabeth II, was potentially offensive to some Scots, as the title of Queen Elizabeth II (of the United Kingdom) relates to the lineage of the throne of England (the Tudor monarch Elizabeth I having reigned only in England).
Ron Warwick, former Captain
A later account by a former captain of the QE2 Ronald W Warwick, who also is the son of William (Bil) Eldon Warwick the ships first captain, also states that the Queen initiated the surprise move of naming the liner after herself rather than simply Queen Elizabeth as originally planned (the name being made vacant by the retirement of the current liner before the new one was commissioned). This name had been given to the Queen in a sealed envelope which she didn't open. The book, referencing his autobiography, states that the Cunard chairman Sir Basil Smallpiece was delighted with this development, it being in keeping with the previous Queen liners, and the 2 was added by Cunard for differentiation of the ship while still denoting it was named after the Queen.
Cunard website
From at least 2002 the official Cunard website stated that "The new ship is not named after the Queen but is simply the second ship to bear the name - hence the use of the Arabic 2 in her name, rather than the Roman II used by the Queen", however, in a change in 2007 this information had been removed.
Other accounts
Other later accounts repeat the position that Cunard originally intended to name the ship the Queen Elizabeth and the addition of a 2 by the Queen was a surprise to Cunard, in 1990 and 2008, although two books by William H. Miller state that Queen Elizabeth 2 was the name agreed on before the launch between Cunard officials and the Queen.
Accounts that repeat the position that the QE2 was not named after the reigning monarch have been published in 1991, 1999, 2004, 2005 2008 and 2008
. In 2008 The Telegraph goes further to state the ship is named not only as the second ship named Queen Elizabeth, but is specifically named after the wife of King George VI. In contradiction however, some modern accounts continue to publish that the QE2 was named after the reigning monarch, in 2001 and 2008.
Post QE2 Cunard naming practice
Cunard continued the 2 suffix naming practice introduced with the QE2 with the launch of the new RMS Queen Mary 2 liner in 2003, named after the previous Queen Mary liner, however, her planned "consort" ship will be named MS Queen Elizabeth, and not the QE3.
External links
- BBC News, 22 October 2008
-
|
| |
|
|
