RMS Queen Elizabeth
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name |
|
Namesake | Queen Elizabeth |
Owner |
|
Port of registry | |
Route | Transatlantic |
Ordered | 6 October 1936 |
Builder |
|
Yard number | 552 |
Way number | 4 |
Laid down | 4 December 1936[1] |
Launched | 27 September 1938 |
Christened | 27 September 1938 |
Completed | 2 March 1940 |
Maiden voyage | 16 October 1946[2][3] |
In service | 1946–1972 |
Out of service | 9 January 1972 |
Identification |
|
Fate | Caught fire and capsized, wreck partially dismantled between 1974–75, rest buried under land reclamation |
General characteristics | |
Type | Ocean liner |
Tonnage | 83,673 GRT |
Displacement | 83,000+ metric tons ) |
Length | 1,031 ft (314.2 m) |
Beam | 118 ft (36.0 m) |
Height | 233 ft (71.0 m) |
Draught | 38 ft 9 in (11.8 m) |
Decks | 13 |
Installed power | 12 × Yarrow boilers |
Propulsion | |
Speed | 28.5 kn (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph) (service) |
Capacity | 2,283 passengers |
Crew | 1,000+ |
RMS Queen Elizabeth was an ocean liner operated by Cunard Line. In tandem with Queen Mary both ships provided a weekly luxury liner service between Southampton in the United Kingdom and New York City in the United States, via Cherbourg in France.
Whilst being constructed in the mid-1930s by
With the decline in popularity of the transatlantic route, both ships were replaced by the smaller, more economical
Design and construction
On the day RMS Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage, Cunard's chairman, Sir Percy Bates, informed his ship designers, headed by George Paterson, that it was time to start designing the planned second ship.[8] The official contract between Cunard and government financiers was signed on 6 October 1936.[9]
The new ship improved upon the design of Queen Mary[10] with sufficient changes, including a reduction in the number of boilers to twelve instead of Queen Mary's twenty-four, that the designers could discard one funnel and increase deck, cargo and passenger space. The two funnels were self-supporting and braced internally to give a cleaner-looking appearance. With the forward well deck omitted, a more refined hull shape was achieved, and a sharper, raked bow was added for a third bow-anchor point.[10] She was to be twelve feet longer and 4,000 tons greater displacement than the Queen Mary.[11][9]
Queen Elizabeth was built on slipway four at John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland, Great Britain. During her construction she was more commonly known by her shipyard number, Hull 552.
Queen Elizabeth sat at the fitting-out dock at the shipyard in her Cunard colours until 2 November 1939, when the
Second World War
At the start of the Second World War, it was decided that Queen Elizabeth was so vital to the war effort that she must not have her movements tracked by German spies operating in the Clydebank area. An elaborate ruse suggested to any German observers that she would sail to Southampton to complete her fitting-out.[16] Another factor prompting Queen Elizabeth's departure was the necessity to clear the fitting-out berth at the shipyard for the battleship HMS Duke of York,[16] which was in need of its final fitting-out. Only the berth at John Brown could accommodate the King George V-class battleships.
One major factor that limited the ship's departure date was that there were only two spring tides that year that would see the water level high enough for Queen Elizabeth to leave the Clydebank shipyard,[16] and German intelligence were aware of this fact. A minimal crew of four hundred were assigned for the trip; most were transferred from Aquitania and told that this would be a short coastal voyage to Southampton.[16] Parts were shipped to Southampton, and preparations were made to move the ship into the King George V Graving Dock when she arrived.[16] The names of Brown's shipyard employees were booked to local hotels in Southampton to give a false trail of information, and Captain John Townley was appointed as her first master. Townley had previously commanded Aquitania on one voyage, and several of Cunard's smaller vessels before that. Townley and his hastily signed-on crew of four hundred Cunard personnel were told by a company representative before they left to pack for a voyage where they could be away from home for up to six months.[17]
By the beginning of March 1940, Queen Elizabeth was ready for her secret voyage. The Cunard colours were painted over with
Captain Townley discovered that he was to take the ship directly to New York, in the neutral United States, and not to stop or even slow to drop off the Southampton
Queen Elizabeth left the port of New York on 13 November 1940 for Singapore to receive her troopship conversion.
As a troopship, Queen Elizabeth left Singapore on 11 February, and on 23 February 1942 Queen Elizabeth secretly arrived in Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. She underwent refit work in drydock adding accommodation and armaments, and three hundred naval ratings quickly painted the hull.[18] In mid-March, carrying 8,000 American soldiers, Queen Elizabeth began a 7,700-mile voyage from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia.[19] Initially she carried Australian troops to theatres of operation in Asia and Africa.[20] After 1942, the two Queens were relocated to the North Atlantic for the transportation of American troops to Europe.[20]
Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary were both used as troop transports[21] during the war. Their high speeds allowed them to outrun hazards, principally German U-boats, usually allowing them to travel outside a convoy.[17] Nevertheless, Queen Elizabeth was the target of U-704, which fired four torpedoes at her on 9 November 1942.[22] The commander, Horst Wilhelm Kessler, heard a detonation[22] and Nazi radio propaganda claimed she was sunk.[23] In reality, one of the torpedoes detonated prematurely and the Queen Elizabeth was unharmed.[24]
During her war service as a troopship, Queen Elizabeth carried more than 750,000 troops, and she also sailed some 500,000 miles (800,000 km).[9]
Post-Second World War
Following the end of the Second World War, Queen Elizabeth was refitted and furnished as an ocean liner,[9] while her running mate Queen Mary remained in her wartime role and grey appearance except for her funnels, which were repainted in the company's colours. For another year, her sibling did military service, returning troops and G.I. brides to the United States while Queen Elizabeth was overhauled at the Firth of Clyde Drydock, in Greenock, by the John Brown Shipyard.
Six years of war service had never permitted the formal sea trials to take place, so they were now finally undertaken. Under the command of Commodore Sir James Bisset, the ship travelled to the Isle of Arran and her trials were carried out. On board was the ship's namesake, Queen Elizabeth, and her two daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.[9] During the trials, Queen Elizabeth took the wheel for a brief time, and the two young princesses recorded the two measured runs with stopwatches that they had been given for the occasion. Bisset was under strict instructions from Sir Percy Bates, who was also aboard the trials, that all that was required from the ship was two measured runs of no more than 30 knots and that she was not permitted to attempt to attain a higher speed record than Queen Mary.[25] Queen Elizabeth's engines were capable of driving her to speeds of over 32 knots.[25] After her trials Queen Elizabeth finally entered passenger service, allowing Cunard White Star to launch the long-planned two-ship weekly service to New York.[26] Despite specifications similar to those of Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth never held the Blue Riband, for Cunard White Star chairman Sir Percy Bates asked that the two ships do not try to compete against each other.[25]
The ship ran aground on a sandbank off Southampton on 14 April 1947, and was re-floated the following day.[9]
In 1955, during an annual overhaul at Southampton, England, Queen Elizabeth was fitted with underwater fin stabilisers to smooth the ride in rough seas. Two fins were fitted each side of the hull. The fins were retractable into the hull to save fuel in smooth seas and for docking.[27] On 29 July 1959, she was in a collision with the American freighter American Hunter in foggy conditions in New York Harbor and was holed above the waterline.[28]
Together with Queen Mary and in competition with the American liners
Cunard retired Queen Mary in 1967 and Queen Elizabeth completed her final Atlantic crossing to New York on 5 November 1968.[6] The two liners were replaced with the new, more economical Queen Elizabeth 2.
Final years
In late 1968, Queen Elizabeth was sold to the Elizabeth Corporation, with 15% of the company controlled by a group of Philadelphia businessmen and 85% retained by Cunard. The new company intended to operate the ship as a hotel and tourist attraction in
Tung, the head of the
The ship was now under Hong Kong ownership, and she sailed to Hong Kong on 10 February 1971.[6] This proved to be problematic, for the ship's engines and boilers were in poor condition after several years of neglect. The now retired Commodore Marr and a former chief engineer of the ship were hired by Tung as advisors for the journey to Hong Kong. Marr recommended that Seawise University be towed to the New Territories, but Tung and his crew were convinced that they could sail the ship there using just the aft engines and boilers. The planned several-week trip turned into months as the crew battled with boiler issues and a fire. An unplanned lengthy mid-voyage stopover allowed the new owners to fly spare parts out to the ship and carry out repairs before resuming the course to Hong Kong Harbour, where she arrived in July 1971.
With the £5 million conversion nearing completion, the vessel caught fire on 9 January 1972.
The ship was destroyed by the fire, and the water sprayed on her by fireboats caused the burnt wreck to sink in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour.
After the fire, Tung had one of the liner's anchors and the metal letters "Q" and "E" from the name on the bow placed in front of the office building at Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California, which had been intended as the headquarters of the Seawise University venture;[36][37] they later went on display with commemorative plaques in the lobby of Wall Street Plaza, 88 Pine Street, New York City. Two of the ship's fire warning system brass plaques were recovered by a dredger, and were displayed at The Aberdeen Boat Club in Hong Kong in an exhibit about the ship. The charred remnants of her last ensign were cut from the flagpole and framed in 1972, and still adorn the wall of the officers' mess of marine police HQ in Hong Kong. Parker Pen Company produced a special edition of 5,000 pens made from material recovered from the wreck, each in a presentation box; today these are highly collectible.[38]
Following the demise of Queen Elizabeth, the largest passenger ship in active service became the 66,343 GRT SS France, which was longer but with less tonnage than the Cunard liner. Queen Elizabeth held the record of largest passenger ship ever built until the 101,353 GT Carnival Sunshine (now the Carnival Sunshine) captured the record in 1996. To date, Queen Elizabeth still holds the record as the largest passenger ship for the longest time of 56 years.[citation needed]
In fiction
In 1959, the ship made an appearance in the British satirical comedy film The Mouse That Roared, starring Peter Sellers and Jean Seberg. While a troupe of invading men from "Grand Fenwick", a fictional European micro-nation, cross the Atlantic to 'war' with the United States, they meet and pass the far larger Queen Elizabeth, and learn that the port of New York is closed due to an air raid drill.[39]
The wreck was featured in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, as a covert headquarters for MI6.[41][42]
References
- ^ Pride of the North Atlantic, A Maritime Trilogy, David F. Hutchings. Waterfront 2003
- ^ John Shephard, The Cunard – White Star liner Queen Elizabeth
- ^ RMS Queen Elizabeth – Maiden Voyage after War – Cunard – Original footage, British Movietone News via youtube
- ^ "RMS Queen Elizabeth". www.relevantsearchscotland.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Big Liners Steel Frame Work Rises as Workers Speed Up" Popular Mechanics, left-side pg 346. Hearst Magazines. September 1937.
- ^ a b c d "RMS Quen Elizabeth - 1939".
- ^ "Classic Liners and Cruise Ships – Queen Elizabeth". Cruiseserver.net. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ^ RMS Queen Elizabeth from Victory to Valhalla. pp. 10
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Cunard Queen Elizabeth 1940 – 1972". Cunard.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ^ a b c d Maxtone-Graham, John. The Only Way to Cross. New York: Collier Books, 1972, p. 355
- ^ Pathé, British. "Sister Ship To The Queen Mary". www.britishpathe.com.
- ^ RMS Queen Elizabeth, The Beautiful Lady. Janette McCutcheon, The History Press Ltd (8 November 2001)
- ^ The Liverpool Post, 23 August 1937
- ^ John Whitaker (1985). The Best. p. 238.
- ^ Hutchings, David F. (2003) Pride of the North Atlantic. A Maritime Trilogy, Waterfront.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 358–60
- ^ a b c Floating Palaces. (1996) A&E. TV Documentary. Narrated by Fritz Weaver
- ^ "Queen Elizabeth".
- ^ The RMS Queen Elizabeth (1942) Zacha's Bay Window Gallery
- ^ a b "Rms. Queen Elizabeth". Ayrshire Scotland. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ^ "Two Ships Helped End WWII". Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ a b Blair, Clay (2000). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted, 1942–1945. New York: Modern Library. p. 107.
- ^ "Image". rmhh.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ "HISTORY - The CUNARD - WHITE STAR Liner rms QUEEN ELIZABETH (1938-1972)". earlofcruise.blogspot.com. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ a b c "RMS Quen Elizabeth - 1939". ssmaritime.com.
- ^ Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 396
- ^ "Big Liner Sprouts Fins." Popular Science, June 1955, pp. 122–124.
- ^ "Liner Queen Elizabeth in Collision". The Times. No. 54526. London. 30 July 1959. col A, p. 6.
- ^ Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 409
- ^ "'Queen' Fire Hazard'". Journal and Courier. Lafayette, IN. Associated Press. 13 November 1969. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Arson Suspected as Blaze Destroys Queen Elizabeth". 10 January 1972. Retrieved 17 May 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "On This Day: The Queen Elizabeth Mysteriously Sinks in a Hong Kong Harbor". Findingdulcinea.com. 9 January 2011. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ^ "Queen Elizabeth". Chriscunard.com. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ^ "The Cunard - White Star Liner QUEEN ELIZABETH 1938 - 1972". www.liverpoolships.org.
- ^ "Sea queen to lie below CT9". Retrieved 6 August 2011.
- ^ "Queen Elizabeth". cruisetalkshow.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- ^ Whitlow, Z. e (14 December 2010). "The Captain's Table: The Queen Elizabeth in Torrance".
- ^ "Parker 75 RMS Queen Elizabeth". Parker75.com. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
- ^ "The Mouse That Roared (1959) Trivia". IMDB. IMDB.com. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- ^ "CANBERRA - The James Bond Ship - Cruising - Posters - P&O Collection". www.poheritage.com.
- ^ "RMS Queen Elizabeth". Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^ Hann, Michael (3 October 2012). "My favourite Bond film: The Man with the Golden Gun". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
Further reading
- Britton, Andrew (2013). RMS Queen Elizabeth. Classic Liners series. Stroud, Gloucestershire: ISBN 9780752479514.
- 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.
- Maddocks, Melvin (1978). The Great Liners. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books. ISBN 0809426641.
- Varisco, R. (2013). RMS Queen Elizabeth: Cunard's Big Beautiful Ship of Life. Gold Coast: Blurb Books.
- Harvey, Clive, 2008, R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth The Ultimate Ship, Carmania Press, London, ISBN 978-0-95436668-1