RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH

'RMS ''Queen Elizabeth''' was an ocean liner which sailed the Atlantic Ocean for Cunard Line (then the Cunard White Star Line). At the time of her 1930s construction by the John Brown and Company in Clydebank, Scotland, the ''Queen Elizabeth'' was the largest passenger liner ever built. Slightly larger than her sister ship, the ''Queen Mary'', the ''Queen Elizabeth's'' size record lasted for forty-eight years. She first entered service as a troopship for World War II, and later served in her intended role as an ocean liner until her retirement in 1968. Together with the ''Queen Mary'', the ''Queen Elizabeth'' maintained a two-ship weekly transatlantic service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York for over twenty years. Following a fire, she was scrapped in Hong Kong in 1975.
She was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth, who was Queen Consort at the time of her launch in 1938 (and who in 1952 became the Queen Mother).

Contents

Construction

Maiden voyage

Troopship

Liner

Final years

Timeline

References

External links

Construction

The ''Queen Elizabeth'' was launched at the John Brown & Company shipyard at Clydebank, Scotland, on 27 September 1938, and retired from service in 1968. ''Queen Elizabeth'' was the largest passenger steamship ever constructed and held the record for the largest passenger ship of any kind until being surpassed in 1996 by the ''Carnival Destiny''. The ship was named for Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), the wife of King George VI of the United Kingdom and queen consort at the time she was built.

Maiden voyage

Having been launched only a year before the outbreak of World War II, the ship was still being fitted out at the start of the war. Because of her vulnerability to being bombed while still on the Clyde, it was decided that the ship should be moved. It was announced that she would sail for Southampton to complete fitting out. On 3 March 1940, the ''Queen Elizabeth'' sailed - however, on opening his sealed orders, the ship's Master, Captain Townley, found he was to take the ''Queen Elizabeth'' to New York. At the time she was due in Southampton, the city was bombed by the Luftwaffe. On arrival in New York, the ''Queen Elizabeth'' found herself moored alongside her running mate ''Queen Mary'' and the ''Normandie'', the only time all three of the world's biggest liners would be pictured together.

Troopship

Refitted for naval use in Canada, Singapore and Sydney, the ''Queen Elizabeth'' and her running mate, the ''Queen Mary'', were used as troop transports during the war. Their high speeds allowed them to outrun hazards, foremostly German U-boats, allowing them to travel without a convoy. During its naval career, ''Queen Elizabeth'' carried more than 750,000 troops and sailed some 500,000 miles.

Liner

Following the end of the war, the ''Queen Elizabeth'' was able to be put to the use for which she was built; as part of Cunard White Star's two ship, weekly service to New York.
According to ''Chronicle of the 20th century'' (Longman: Chronicle, 1988 ISBN 0582039193), the ship ran aground on a sandbank off Southampton on 14th April, 1947, and was refloated the following day.
Together with the ''Queen Mary'', and in competition with the SS ''United States'', the ''Queen Elizabeth'' dominated the transatlantic passenger trade until their fortunes began to decline with the advent of the faster and more economical jet airliner in the late 1950s. For a short time, the ''Queen Elizabeth'' served a dual role; when not plying her usual transatlantic route, the ship cruised between New York and Nassau. Cunard retired both ships by 1969 and replaced them with a single, smaller ship, the RMS ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (the ''QE2'').

Final years

In 1968, the ''Queen Elizabeth'' was sold to a group of Philadelphia businessmen who intended to operate the ship as a hotel and tourist attraction in Port Everglades, Florida, similar to the use of RMS ''Queen Mary'' in Long Beach, California. Losing money and forced to close after being declared a fire hazard, the ship was sold in 1970 to Hong Kong tycoon C.Y. Tung.
Tung, head of the Orient Overseas Line, intended to convert the vessel into a university for the World Campus Afloat program (later reformed and renamed as Semester at Sea). Following tradition of the Orient Overseas Line, the ship was renamed ''Seawise University'', as a play on Tung's initials.
During the conversion however the vessel was gutted by a fire that broke out at several different places onboard, believed to be caused by arson. The ship toppled in shallow water in Hong Kong harbor on 9 January 1972. The wreckage was scrapped on the spot in 1974-1975, before the project could ever be truly realised. Portions of the hull that were not salvaged were left at the bottom of the bay and later incorporated into landfill for the new Hong Kong airport.
The wreck was featured in the 1974 James Bond movie ''The Man with the Golden Gun'', as a covert headquarters for MI6.
Following her scrapping, the largest passenger ship in active service was the ''SS France'', which was longer but smaller than the ''Queen Elizabeth''.

Timeline

★ 6 April 1968 – Cunard officially announced that "the QE" would retire and become a tourist attraction in Port Everglades, Florida.

★ 28 November 1968 – ''the QE'' departed Southampton for Port Everglades.

★ 8 December 1968 – ''the QE'' arrived at Port Everglades. At 11:54AM EST, the ship was moored at her temporary home between piers 24 and 25.

★ February 14, 1969 – ''the QE'' opened her doors to the public.

★ May 1969 – Cunard offered to sell the ''the QE'' to the highest bidder.

★ 19 July 1969 – Cunard sold ''the QE'' to the group of men who oversaw the original plan by which ship came to Florida.

★ 11 November 1969 – Port Everglades Fire Chief John Gerkin ordered ''the QE'' closed to the public as a fire hazard.

★ December 1969 – ''the QE'' reopened to the public.

★ 9 September 1970 – ''the QE'' was put up for auction when her owners were buried in debt.

★ 17 September 1970 – purchased by C.Y. Tung of Hong Kong.

★ 1 January 1971 – the ship was prepared for her journey to Hong Kong.

★ 10 February 1971 – ''Queen Elizabeth'' was renamed ''Seawise University''.

★ August 1971 – arrived in Victoria Harbour. Work to convert the ship into a floating university commenced.

★ 9 January 1972 – Several fires broke out simultaneously on board, and attempts to put them out flooded the ship. She listed onto her starboard side by the afternoon.

★ 1973 – Footage was filmed of the wreck of the ''Seawise University'' for the James Bond movie ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' as the secret location of MI6 headquarters.

★ 1975 – ''Seawise University'' was scrapped.

References

★ Butler, D. A. (2002). ''Warrior Queens: The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth in World War II'' (1st ed.). Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books.

★ Galbraith, R. (1988). ''Destiny's Daughter: The Tragedy of RMS Queen Elizabeth''. Vermont: Trafalgar Square.

External links

★ RMS Queen Elizabeth story and picture

★ Maritimematters.com: The ELIZABETH in Florida

★ An Empress Incognito