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RMS Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth 2 1970
Inchgreen Dry Dock Greenock
The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, or QE2 as she was and is better known, was launched on September 20, 1967. She was Job No 736, also referred to as Q4. There had been plans for a replacement of the Queen Mary during the 1950s, the Q3, but this was eventually cancelled. The new ship's name remained a closely guarded secret until her launch in 1969, by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The QE2 was not named after Queen Elizabeth II, but after the previous RMS Queen Elizabeth. Since Roman numerals are always used to denote monarchs, the Arabic numeral 2 was used to distinguish the ship's name from that of the reigning monarch. When Queen Elizabeth II launched the ship, she referred to it as "Queen Elizabeth the Second", although it is normally referred to as "Queen Elizabeth 2" rather than "Queen Elizabeth the Second", usually shortened to "QE2".
As built, her steam turbines were of a novel design which, on her maiden voyage to Southampton, proved to be faulty. Redesigned and rebuilt, they operated well until 1982, when they were replaced by nine turbocharged diesel engines driving alternators to power electric propulsion through her twin screws. This reduced fuel consumption by something like 50% and increased her speed to 34 knots, and was also the reason for her new and larger funnel, a single item (originally painted white, but reverted to Cunard colours in 1983) with an air scoop located on each side to lift exhaust gases above the aft decks.
Cunard Line sold the QE2 to Dubai World, for $100 million, with the ship scheduled for delivery to the new owners in November 2008, for conversion into a luxury hotel complete with a retail and entertainment complex next to Dubai's Palm Jumeirah, the world's largest man made island.
War service
In the Falkland's War of 1982 the government requisitioned her to carry troops to the conflict. She emerged unscathed, and after being refitted and re-engined was back in service as a liner.
Emotional ties to the Clyde
In 1967, the Scottish shipbuilding industry was on its knees, much of the machinery used to build the QE2 dated back to the 19th century, and the yards found themselves increasingly unable to compete with more modern foreign shipyards. She was to be the last big ship built on the Clyde and Glasgow folksinger Matt McGinn wrote a song in her praise entitled "The Ballad of Q4", which contained the immortal line "We'll never see the likes of her again!" Clydesiders up and down the river and firth took her to their hearts, so much so that on her 40th anniversary cruise to Greenock on September 20, 2007, thousands of people turned out to see her departure. The main street through Greenock came to a virtual standstill for most of the day, and by the time she came to leave even the back streets had come to a stop.
Final visit to the Clyde
On Sunday, October 5, 2008, the QE2 made her last visit to the Clyde when she visited Greenock Ocean Terminal on her final round the country tour prior to sailing to Dubai to become a floating hotel. Escorted by the destroyer HMS Glasgow, and an armada of small ships and boats, she made her way sedately to the terminal - as usual, thousands of people had turned out to see her.
She sailed for her final Scottish port at 22:00 BST, Queensferry on the Firth of Forth, following a firework display to mark her departure. Again, thousands of people waited in the cold and dark to watch her leave the Clyde forever.
Departure for Dubai
On Tuesday 11th November 2008 the QE2 sailed from Southampton to the accompaniment of a big fireworks display. Her final visit to Southampton had been somewhat traumatic as she hit a sandbank in the Solent on the way in and had to be pulled off by tugs.
On November 13, 2008, The Daily Express revealed the plans awaiting the QE2 in Dubai, where the ship is to undergo massive surgery to satisfy the requirements of her new owners. The engine room is to be stripped and the funnel is to be removed to allow the machinery to be lifter out. A new funnel is to be constructed elsewhere on the upper deck in the form of a smaller replica of the famous original, and will be a feature of the entrance to the ship. All the lifeboats will be removed, and massive internal alterations made to the accommodation areas.
These changes came as a surprise to many people who had wrongly assumed that the ship would be preserved, in outward appearance at least.
On November 26, 2008, BBC News showed live pictures of the QE2 arriving in Dubai, and confirmed that the alterations described would be taking place. It was also announced that this was the 40th anniversary of her completion which had taken place on November 25, 1968, when sea trials commenced, to be followed by the ship's maiden voyage on May 2, 1969.
Photographs
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