Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship)
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''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (''QE2'') is a retired British
ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...
. Built for the
Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...
, the ship was operated as a transatlantic liner and
cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...
from 1969 to 2008. She was laid up until converted into a floating hotel, operating since 18 April 2018 in
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
. ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' plied the route from her
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of
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, UK, to
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, United States. She served as the flagship of the line from 1969 until she was succeeded by the in 2004. ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' was designed in Cunard's offices in
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and
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and built in
Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...
, Scotland. She was refitted with a modern diesel powerplant in 1986–87. ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' retired from active Cunard service on 27 November 2008, and was acquired by the private equity arm of
Dubai World Dubai World () is an investment company that manages and supervises a portfolio of businesses and projects for the Government of Dubai across a wide range of industry segments and projects that promote Dubai as a hub for commerce and trading. A ...
, which planned to begin conversion of the vessel to a 500-room floating hotel moored at the
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, Dubai. Due to the
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, the ship was laid up at Dubai Drydocks and later
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. Subsequent conversion plans were announced in 2012 and then again by the ''Oceanic Group'' in 2013, but both plans stalled. The restored QE2 opened to visitors on 18 April 2018 and today operates as a floating hotel in Dubai, managed since 2024 by French hotel chain Accor.


Development

By 1957, transatlantic sea travel was becoming displaced by air transit due to its speed and low relative cost, with passenger numbers split 50:50 between them. With jets capable of spanning the ocean non-stop replacing prop planes, and the debut of the
Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...
and the
Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USA ...
in 1958, the trend was rapidly increasing.Payne. Page 31. Simultaneously, the aging and ''
Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...
'' were becoming increasingly expensive to operate, and both internally and externally were relics of the pre-war era. Despite falling passenger revenues, Cunard did not want to give up its traditional role as a provider of a North Atlantic passenger service and Royal Mail carrier, and so decided to replace the obsolete ''Queens'' with a new generation liner. Designated ''Q4'' during work-up, it was projected to measure 75,000 gross register tons, have berths for 2,270 passengers, and cost about £30 million. Work had proceeded as far as the preparation of submissions from six shipyards and applying for government financial assistance with the construction when misgivings among some executives and directors, coupled with a shareholder revolt, led to the benefits of the project being reappraised and ultimately cancelled on 19 October 1961.Cross. Cunard decided to continue with a replacement plan but with an altered operating regime and more flexible design. Realising the decline of transatlantic trade, it was visualised that the new ''Queen'' would be dual-purpose three-class ship offering First, Cabin and Tourist passage for eight months a year on the transatlantic route, then as a
cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...
in warmer climates and during the winter months. Compared with the older Queens, which had two engine rooms and four propellers, the newly designated ''Q4'' would be much smaller, with one boiler room, one engine room, and two propellers, which combined with automation would allow a smaller engineering complement.Payne. Page 32. Producing 110,000 shp, the new ship was to have the same service speed as her predecessors, while consuming half the fuel. A reduction to 520 tons per 24 hours was estimated to save Cunard £1 million annually. Able to transit both the
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and
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canals, her shallower draught of would allow her to enter more and smaller ports than the old ships, particularly in tropical waters.


Design

The interior and superstructure for the ''QE2'' was designed by James Gardner. The result was described by The Council of Industrial Design as that of a "very big yacht" and with a "look hat wassleek, modern and purposeful".


Characteristics

As built, ''QE2'' had a
gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...
of , was long, and had a top speed of with steam turbines; this was increased to when the vessel was re-engined with the diesel-electric powerplant. At the time of retirement, the ship had a gross tonnage of 70,327.


Hull

The hull was of welded steel plates, which avoided the weight penalty of over ten million rivets and overlappeding of historic ship construction, and was fitted with a modern
bulbous bow A bulbous bow is a streamlined flaring or protruding bulb at the bow (or front) of a ship just below the waterline. The flare or bulb modifies the way the water flows around the hull, reducing drag and thus increasing speed, range, fuel effici ...
.


Superstructure

Like both and , ''QE2'' had a flared
stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...
and clean
forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...
. 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 its merchant vessels since Cunard's first vessel, 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 ''QE2'' returned from service in the
Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
, and the funnel was repainted in traditional Cunard orange and black, with black horizontal bands, known as "hands". The original narrow funnel was rebuilt larger during her 1986 refurbishment in
Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...
, using steel panels from the original, when the ship was converted from steam to
diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...
power. Large quantities of weight-saving aluminium were used in the framing and cladding of ''QE2''s superstructure in place of steel. Reducing the draft of the ship lowered fuel consumption, but invited the electrochemical corrosion where the dissimilar metals are joined together, prevented by using a jointing compound. The low melting point of aluminium caused concern when ''QE2'' was serving as a troopship during the Falklands War, with some fearing that if the ship were struck by a missile her upper decks would collapse quickly due to fire. 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 A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
, and in 1977 this structure was expanded to include more suites with balconies, making ''QE2'' one of the first ships to offer private terraces to passengers since ''Normandie'' in the 1930s. Her balcony accommodation was expanded for the final time when her funnel was widened during the 1986/87 overhaul. ''QE2''s final structural changes included the reworking of the aft decks during the 1994 refit, following the removal of the magrodome, and the addition of an undercover area on Sun Deck during the 2005 refit outfitted as the Funnel Bar.


Interiors

''Queen Elizabeth 2''s interior configuration was originally designed for segregated two-class Atlantic crossings. It was laid out in a horizontal fashion, similar to ''France'', where the spaces dedicated to the two classes were spread on specific decks, in contrast to the deck-spanning vertical class divisions of older liners. Where ''QE2'' differed from ''France'' in having only two classes of service, with the upper deck dedicated to tourist class and the quarter deck beneath it to first-class. Each had its own main lounge. Another modern variation was providing tourist class with a grand two-story main ballroom, called the Double Room (later the Grand Lounge), created by opening a well in the deck between what were to have been the second and third class lounges in the ship's original three class design. This too was unconventional in that it designated a grander space for tourist class passengers than first class, who gathered in the standard height Queen's Room. The First-class was given the theatre balcony on Boat Deck, and tourist class the orchestra level on Upper Deck. Over the span of her thirty-nine-year seagoing career, ''QE2'' received a number of interior refits and alterations. The year ''QE2'' entered service, 1969,
Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...
landed on the Moon, the
Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...
prototype was unveiled, and the
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first took flight. In keeping with those technology influenced times, Cunard abandoned the
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
interiors of the previous ''Queens'' in favor of everyday modern materials like laminates, aluminium and
Perspex Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bran ...
. The public rooms featured glass, stainless steel, dark carpeting and sea green leather. Furniture was modular, and
abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...
was used throughout public rooms and cabins.
Dennis Lennon John Dennis Lennon (23 June 1918 – 16 April 1991) was a British architect, interior designer, and furniture designer. He was responsible for the interior design of the ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' and of 190-192 Sloane Street, London. Lennon worked ...
was responsible for co-ordinating the interior design, assisted by Jon Bannenberg and Gaby Schreiber; his original designs only remained intact for three years. 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 surrounded by a chrome railing. In the centre was a flared, white, trumpet-shaped, lighted column. The Theatre Bar on Upper Deck featured red chairs, red drapes, a red egg crate fibreglass screen, and even a red baby
grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
. 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. The ''QE2''s 1972 refit plated over the windows and turned the room into galley space. Almost all of the remaining original decor was replaced in the 1994 refit, with Cunard opting to use the line's traditional ocean liners as inspiration. The green velvet and leather Midships Bar became the
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
inspired Chart Room, receiving an original, custom-designed piano from ''Queen Mary''. The (by then) blue dominated Theatre Bar was transformed into the traditional
Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...
-themed Golden Lion Pub. Some original elements were retained, including the flared columns in the Queen's Room and Mid-Ships Lobby. The Queen's Room's indirect ceiling lighting was replaced with uplighters which reversed the original light airy effect by illuminating the lowered ceiling and leaving shadows in the ceiling's slot. By the time of ''QE2's'' retirement, the ship's synagogue was the only room that had remained unaltered since 1969. However it was reported that during ''QE2''s 22 October five-night voyage, the synagogue was dismantled and removed from the ship before her final sailing to Dubai.


Artwork and artefacts

The designers included numerous pieces of artwork within the public rooms of the ship, as well as maritime artefacts drawn from Cunard's long history of operating merchant vessels.
Althea Wynne Althea Kathleen Wynne (6 October 1936 – 24 January 2012), also known by her married names of Dresman and Barrington Brown, was an English sculptor and art teacher, and a Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors. She specialized in ...
's sculpture of the ''White Horses'' of the Atlantic Ocean was installed in the Mauretania Restaurant. Two bronze busts were installed—one of Sir
Samuel Cunard Sir Samuel Cunard, 1st Baronet (21 November 1787 – 28 April 1865), was a British-Canadian shipping magnate, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who founded the Cunard Line, establishing the first scheduled steamship connection with North America. ...
outside the Yacht Club, and one of Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
in the Queen's Room. Four life-size statues of human forms—created by sculptor Janine Janet in marine materials like shell and coral, representing the four elements—were installed in the Princess Grill. A frieze designed by Brody Nevenshwander, depicting the words of
T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
, Sir
Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
, and
John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer. He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967, during which time he lived at Burcot, Oxfordshire, near Abingdon ...
, was in the Chart Room. The Midships Lobby housed a solid silver model of ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' made by Asprey of Bond Street in 1975, which was lost until a photograph found in 1997 led to the discovery of the model itself. It was placed on ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' in 1999. Three custom-designed tapestries were commissioned from
Helena Hernmarck Helena Hernmarck (born in Stockholm, Sweden, 1941) is a Swedish tapestry artist who lives and works in the United States. She is best known for her monumental tapestries designed for architectural settings. Early life and education Hernmark's pa ...
for the ship's launch, depicting the Queen as well as the launch of the ship. These tapestries were originally hung in the Quarter Deck "D" Stairway, outside the Columbia Restaurant. They were originally made with golden threads, but much of this was lost when they were incorrectly cleaned during the 1987 refit. They were subsequently hung in the "E" stairway and later damaged in 2005. There are numerous photographs, oils, and pastels of members of the
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throughout the vessel. The ship also housed items from previous Cunard ships, including both a brass relief plaque with a fish motif from the first and an Art-Deco bas-relief titled ''Winged Horse and Clouds'' by Norman Foster from . There were also a vast array of Cunard postcards, porcelain, flatware, boxes, linen, and
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Tri-ang Minic model ships. One of the key pieces was a replica of the
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from Cunard's first ship , carved from
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yellow pine by Cornish sculptor Charles Moore and presented to the ship by
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. On the Upper Deck sits the silver Boston Commemorative Cup, presented to ''Britannia'' by the City of Boston in 1840. This cup was lost for decades until it was found in a pawn shop in Halifax, Nova Scotia. On "2" Deck was a bronze entitled ''Spirit of the Atlantic'' that was designed by Barney Seale for the second . A large wooden plaque was presented to ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' by
First Sea Lord First Sea Lord, officially known as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS), is the title of a statutory position in the British Armed Forces, held by an Admiral (Royal Navy), admiral or a General (United Kingdom), general of the ...
Sir John Fieldhouse to commemorate the ship's service as a Hired Military Transport (HMT) in the
Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
. There was also an extensive collection of large-scale models of Cunard ships located throughout ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. Over the years the ship's collection was added to. Among those items was a set of antique Japanese armour presented to ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' by the Governor of
Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...
, Japan, during her 1979 world cruise, as was a
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vase presented to the ship by Lord Wedgwood. Throughout the public areas were also silver plaques commemorating the visits of every member of the Royal Family, as well as other dignitaries such as South African president
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
. Istithmar acquired most of these items from Cunard when it bought ''QE2''.


Crew accommodation

The majority of the crew were accommodated in two- or four-berth cabins, with showers and toilets at the end of each alleyway. These were located forward and aft on decks three to six. At the time she entered service, the crew areas were a significant improvement over those aboard and ; however the ship's age and the lack of renovation of the crew area during her 40 years of service, in contrast to passenger areas, which were updated periodically, meant that this accommodation was considered basic by the end of her career.
Officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
were accommodated in single cabins with private in-suite bathrooms located on Sun Deck. There were six crew bars, the main four were split into the Senior Rates Recreation Rooms on Deck 2 and the Junior Rates on Deck 3, with Deck and Engine Departments on the port side and Hotel on the starboard side of the ship. The Female crew recreation room was on Deck 1 next to their dedicated mess room. Over time the Deck & Engine Ratings Room became The Petty Officers Club and then the Fo'c'sle Club when the British Deck and Engine crew were changed to Filipino crew. The Hotel Senior Rates room became a crew gym. The Junior Rates Rooms on Deck 3 were the main crew bars and were called ''The Pig & Whistle''. ("The 2 deck Pig" and three deck pig, for short and a tradition aboard Cunard ships) and Castaways on the starboard side. After the expansion of female crew following the conversion to diesel power, the female-only recreation and mess room became a crew library and later the crew services office. The final bar on Deck 6 aft was small and in a former crew launderette so it was called the Dhobi Arms, a hang out for the Liverpool crew but was closed in the late '80s. A bar, dedicated for the officers, is located at the forward end of Boat Deck. Named ''The Officers Wardroom'', this area enjoyed forward-facing views and was often opened to passengers for cocktail parties hosted by the senior officers. The crew mess was situated at the forward end of One Deck, adjacent to the crew services office.


Machinery

''Queen Elizabeth 2'' was originally fitted out with a
steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
propulsion system using three Foster Wheeler E.S.D II boilers, which provided steam for the two Brown- Parsons turbines. The turbines were rated with a maximum power output figure of (normally operating at ) and coupled via double-reduction gearing to two six-bladed fixed-pitch
propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...
s. The steam turbines were plagued with problems from the time the ship first entered service and, despite being technically advanced and fuel-efficient in 1968, her consumption of 600 tons of fuel oil every twenty-four hours was more than expected for such a ship by the 1980s. After seventeen years of service, the availability of spare parts was becoming difficult due to the outdated design of the boilers and turbines and the constant use of the machinery which was mainly due to Cunard's cost-saving deletion of the originally planned 4th boiler while the ship was still on the drawing board. The shipping company decided that the options were to either do nothing for the remainder of the ship's life, re-configure the existing engines, or completely re-engine the vessel with a modern, more efficient and more reliable diesel-electric powerplant. Ultimately it was decided to replace the engines, as it was calculated that the savings in fuel costs and maintenance would pay for themselves over four years while giving the vessel a minimum of another twenty years of service, whereas the other options would only provide short-term relief. Her steam turbines had taken her to a record-breaking total of 2,622,858 miles in 18 years. During the ship's 1986 to 1987 refit, the steam turbines were removed and replaced with nine German
MAN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...
9L58/64 nine-cylinder, medium-speed diesel engines, each weighing approximately 120 tons. Using a diesel-electric configuration, each engine drives a 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 produce 44 MW each and are of synchronised salient-pole construction, nine metres in diameter and weighing more than 400 tons each. The ship's service speed of was now maintained using only seven of the diesel-electric sets. The maximum power output with the new engine configuration running increased to 130,000 hp, which was greater than the previous system's 110,000 hp. Using the same IBF-380 (
Bunker C Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine fue ...
) fuel, the new configuration yielded a 35% fuel saving over the previous system. During the re-engining process, her funnel was modified into a wider one to accommodate the exhaust pipes for the nine MAN diesel engines. During the refit, the original fixed-pitch propellers were replaced with variable-pitch propellers. The old steam propulsion system required astern turbines to move the ship backward or stop her moving forward. The pitch of the new variable pitch blades could simply be reversed, causing a reversal of propeller thrust while maintaining the same direction of propeller rotation, allowing the ship shorter stopping times and improved handling characteristics. The new propellers were originally fitted with "Grim Wheels", named after their inventor, Dr. Ing Otto Grim. These were free-spinning propeller blades fitted behind the main propellers, with long vanes protruding from the centre hub. The Grim Wheels were designed to recover lost propeller thrust and reduce fuel consumption by 2.5 to 3%. 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. The wheels were removed and the project was 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 galleys. Four flash evaporators and a reverse-osmosis unit desalinate seawater to produce 1000 tons of freshwater daily. There is also a sanitation system and sewage disposal plant, air conditioning plant, and an electro-hydraulic steering system.


Construction

On 30 December 1964, Cunard placed an order for construction of the new ship with
John Brown and Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of the ...
, who would build it at their shipyard in
Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...
, Scotland. The agreed price was £25,427,000 (equal to £ today) provision for escalation of labour and materials increases, with an agreed delivery date of May 1968.Payne. Page 33. To assist with its construction the British government provided financial assistance to Cunard in the form of a £17.6 million loan at 4.5% interest. The keel was laid down on 5 July 1965, as hull number 736 on the same slipway where previous Cunard liners such as , , ''Queen Mary'', and ''Queen Elizabeth'' had been constructed. The ship was launched and named on 20 September 1967 by
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
, using the same pair of gold scissors her mother and grandmother used to launch ''Queen Elizabeth'' and ''Queen Mary'', respectively. After the bottle of champagne was smashed the ''QE2'' stayed put on the slipway for 90 seconds before being let free. In a break with tradition, Cunard declined to give the ship
royal mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...
status.


Name

Authorities disagree over whether the ship's namesake is the monarch Elizabeth II or the liner ''Queen Elizabeth''. During the naming and launching ceremony on 20 September 1967, the monarch clearly and verbally states the name of the ship is "Queen Elizabeth the Second". However, the written form of ship is "Queen Elizabeth 2", (Queen Elizabeth Two), not the "Queen Elizabeth II" (Queen Elizabeth the Second) formal title used by the monarch. It is likely that Her Majesty misinterpreted the written numeral "2" as the Roman numeral "II".


Form of name

The name of the liner as it appears on the bow and stern is ''Queen Elizabeth 2'', with upper- and lower-case lettering and an
Arabic numeral The ten Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) are the most commonly used symbols for writing numbers. The term often also implies a positional notation number with a decimal base, in particular when contrasted with Roman numerals. ...
2 as opposed to the
Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...
II, distinguishing her from the monarch,
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
; it is commonly pronounced in speech as ''Queen Elizabeth Two''. Soon after launching, the name was shortened in common use as ''QE2''.


Background

''Queen Mary'', in 1934, and ''Queen Elizabeth'', in 1938, were both named by and for contemporary spouses of reigning monarchs:
Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 Janua ...
and
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of K ...
, respectively. These two previous Cunarders both had capitalised bow names, as ''QUEEN MARY'' and ''QUEEN ELIZABETH''. Cunard practice at the time of naming ''QE2'' was to re-use the existing name of its former ships, for example, launching in 1938 after the previous was scrapped in 1935. The original ''Queen Elizabeth'' was still in service with Cunard when ''QE2'' was launched in 1967, although she was retired and sold before ''QE2'' entered revenue service with 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, since the Cunard ships already had the 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", as no name had yet been painted on the bow.William H. Miller, In
Picture history of the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth
', Courier Dover Publications 2004, , , p97,
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
search (partial preview), Picture showing the QE2 hull being launched without a bow name, caption: (p96) "Right: The joyous launch of the Queen Elizabeth 2 on 20 September 1967". Retrieved 14 November 2008
The Queen launched the ship with the words "I name this ship ''Queen Elizabeth the Second''," the normal short form of address of the monarch, Elizabeth II herself. The following day, the ''New York Times'' and ''The Times'' of London printed the name as ''Queen Elizabeth II'', the short form of written style of the monarch. However, when the liner left the shipyard in 1968 she bore the name ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' on her bow, and has continued to do so ever since.William H. Miller, In
Picture history of the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth
', Courier Dover Publications 2004, , , p98,
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
search (partial preview), Picture showing the QE2 bow wearing the name Queen Elizabeth 2 while having the bridge lowered into place, caption: (p99) "this 1968 photo, opposite, top, shows the wheelhouse and bridge sections being lifted aboard". Retrieved 14 November 2008


1969 authorised history

In an authorised history of ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' published in 1969, various explanations of events occur. These state that, as at the launch ceremony, an envelope and card were also held in New York in case of transmission failure, and when opened the card was found to read the name Queen Elizabeth, and that the decision to add "The Second" to the name was an alteration by the Queen. The book quotes the Cunard chairman Sir Basil Smallpeice as saying "The ''Queen Mary''
amed Amed or AMED may refer to: *Amed (Bali), a town in Bali, Indonesia *Amedisys Home Health and Hospice Care, a home health and hospice care company in the US, NASDAQ abbreviation AMED * Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development *Amed Ber, a t ...
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 upper and lower case lettering and a numeric ''2'' – rather than a
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
''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 and Ireland (the Tudor monarch
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
having reigned only in England and Ireland).


Ron Warwick, former captain

In a later account by Ronald Warwick, who was the son of William "Bil" Warwick and the first master of ''QE2'', Warwick junior (himself later in his Cunard career a
master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...
of the ''QE2'' and latterly the first captain of '' QM2'') supports the account that the Queen initiated the surprise move of naming the liner after herself rather than simply Queen Elizabeth as had originally been planned (the name having been made vacant by the retirement of the current liner before the new one was commissioned).Warwick junior is currently involved with ''QE2'' in Dubai and Cape Town on behalf of Nakheel. The 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 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 late 2008 this information had been removed due to the ship's retirement.


Other accounts

Other later accounts repeat the position that Cunard originally intended to name the ship ''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.William H. Miller, In
Picture history of the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth
', Courier Dover Publications 2004, , , p99,
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
search (partial preview), "Queen Elizabeth II had agreed to do the naming at the ship's launch on 20 September 1967 and, in discussion with Cunard officials, agreed on Queen Elizabeth 2. The new ship was named after the previous liner, not the current queen". Retrieved 14 November 2008
Accounts that repeat the position that ''QE2'' was not named after the reigning monarch have been published in 1991,William H. Miller, Frank O. Braynard, In
Picture History of the Cunard Line, 1840–1990
', Courier Dover Publications 1991, , , p127,
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
search (partial preview), "But it was left to Queen Elizabeth herself, who, like her grandmother in 1934 and her mother in 1938, consented to name the liner at her launching. And so, on 20 September 1967, ... Queen Elizabeth named the new Cunarder ''Queen Elizabeth 2'', honouring the original ''Queen Elizabeth'' (not, as many had thought, the Queen herself). Evidently it had been decided to let the name ''Queen Mary'' remain with the majestic old three stacker..." . Retrieved 14 November 2008
1999, 2004, 2005, 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 2001Matt Richardson, In
The Royal Book of Lists
', Dundurn Press, 2001, , , p70-71,
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
search (partial preview), During the twentieth century the Cunard Shipping Line launched three famous luxury liners, each named for a different English Queen, 1. The ''Queen Mary'', 2. The ''Queen Elizabeth'', 3. The ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. Retrieved 14 November 2008
and 2008. There is a gilded bust that stands in the ship's queen's room depicting Queen Elizabeth II, not her mother.


Delivery

As construction continued on the new ship, Cunard found itself in increasing financial difficulties as increased competition from airlines resulted in the company's passenger ships losing money. With profits from its cargo ships eventually unable to offset the losses, Cunard was forced to sell ''Mauretania'', ''Sylvania'', ''Carinthia'', ''Caronia'', ''Queen Mary'' and ''Queen Elizabeth'' between 1965 and 1968. Income also fell due to a seven-week-long seamens' strike in 1966. Then John Brown advised that the delivery would be delayed by six months, which meant the ship would miss the 1968 peak summer transatlantic season. Following market research, Cunard decided to take advantage of the delay to change the original three-class configuration of the ship to a more flexible two-class arrangement of First and Tourist. On 20 September 1967 with the launch date approaching, Cunard (having lost £7.5 million the previous year) approached the government with a request for an additional £3 million loan to complete the ship. Eventually the government agreed to increase the original £17.6 million loan up to £24 million. On 19 November 1968, she left John Brown's fitting-out berth. Several industrial disputes with the Clydebank workers, with their resultant delays and quality issues, forced Cunard to transfer the ship to Southampton, where Vosper Thorneycroft completed the installation and commissioning work, prior to the sea trials. Sea trials began on 26 November 1968 in the
Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
, proceeding to speed trials off the Isle of Arran.Payne. Page 34. Cunard initially refused to accept the ship, as the sea trials identified that the ship suffered from a resonant vibration which was traced to a design flaw in the blades of the steam turbines.Payne. Page 36. This delayed her being handed over to her new owners until 18 April 1969. She then departed on a "shakedown cruise" to
Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...
on 22 April 1969.


Service


Early career

''Queen Elizabeth 2''s maiden voyage, from Southampton to New York, commenced on 2 May 1969, taking 4 days, 16 hours, and 35 minutes, at an average speed of 28.02 knots. Upon her arrival to New York Harbour, she was greeted by two
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
Harrier jets that hovered on each side of the ship. The Harriers were in New York City at the time competing in the Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race. In 1971, she participated in the rescue of some 500 passengers from the burning French Line ship . Later that year on 5 March ''QE2'' was disabled for four hours when jellyfish were sucked into and blocked her seawater intakes. On 17 May 1972, while travelling from New York to Southampton, she was the subject of a
bomb threat A bomb threat or bomb scare is a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, injuries, and/or incite fear, whether or not such a device actually exists. History Bomb threats ...
. She was searched by her crew, and a combined
Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...
and
Special Boat Service The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roy ...
team which
parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...
d into the sea to conduct a search of the ship. No bomb was found, but the hoaxer was arrested by the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
. The following year ''QE2'' undertook two chartered cruises through the Mediterranean to Israel in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the state's founding. The ship's Columbia Restaurant was koshered for Passover, and Jewish passengers were able to celebrate
Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...
on the ship. According to the book "The Angel" by Uri Bar-Joseph,
Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...
ordered a submarine to torpedo her during one of the chartered cruises in retaliation for Israel's downing of Libyan Flight 114, but
Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...
intervened secretly to foil the attack. She continued the Cunard tradition of regular scheduled transatlantic crossings every year of her service life, crossing on an opposite and symbiotic summer schedule with the CGT's famous between 1961 and 1974. Upon the withdrawal of competing SS ''France'' from service in 1974, ''QE2'' became the largest operational passenger ship in the world for a few years, until the ''France'' was returned to service as in 1980. On 23 July 1976 while the ship was 80 miles off the Scilly Isles on a transatlantic voyage, a flexible coupling drive connecting the starboard main engine high-pressure rotor and the reduction gearbox ruptured. This allowed lubricating oil under pressure to enter into the main engine room where it ignited, creating a severe fire. It took 20 minutes to bring the fire under control. Reduced to two boilers, ''QE2'' limped back to Southampton. Damage from the fire resulted in a replacement boiler having to be fitted by dry-docking the ship and cutting an access hole in her side. By 1978 ''QE2'' was breaking even with an occupancy of 65%, generating revenues of greater than £30 million per year against which had to be deducted an annual fuel cost of £5 million and a monthly crew cost of £225,000. With it costing £80,000 a day for her to sit idle in port, her owners made every attempt to keep her at sea and full of passengers. As a result, as much maintenance as possible was undertaken while at sea. However, she needed all three of her boilers to be in service if she was to maintain her transatlantic schedule. With limited ability to maintain her boilers, reliability was becoming a serious issue. Between the late 1970s and early 1980s, the ship was testing a new ablative anti-fouling type paint for the Admiralty which was only available in blue. When they finally made the paint available in different colours they returned ''QE2'' anti-fouling paint to the traditional red colour.


Falklands War

On 3 May 1982, she was requisitioned by the British government for service as a troop carrier in the
Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
. In preparation for war service, Vosper Thornycroft commenced in Southampton on 5 May 1982 the installation of two
helicopter pad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and VTOL, vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a ...
s, the transformation of public lounges into
dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...
, the installation of fuel pipes that 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 Hardboard, also called high-density fiberboard (HDF), is a type of fiberboard, which is a ''pressed wood'' or ''engineered wood'' product. It is used in furniture and in the construction industry. Description Hardboard is similar to particle ...
. A quarter of the ship's length was reinforced with steel plating, and an anti-magnetic coil was fitted to combat
naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...
s. Over 650 Cunard crew members volunteered for the voyage, to look after the 3,000 members of the Fifth Infantry Brigade, which the ship transported to
South Georgia South Georgia is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. ...
. On 12 May 1982, with only one of her three boilers in operation, the ship departed Southampton for the South Atlantic, carrying 3,000 troops and 650 volunteer crew. The remaining boilers were brought back into service as she steamed south.Payne. Page 38. During the voyage, the ship was blacked out and the radar switched off to avoid detection, steaming on without modern aids. ''QE2'' returned to the UK on 11 June 1982, where she was greeted in
Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed we ...
by
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...
on board . Peter Jackson, the captain of the ocean liner, responded to the Queen Mother's welcome: "Please convey to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth our thanks for her kind message. Cunard's ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' is proud to have been of service to
Her Majesty's Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping ef ...
." The ship underwent conversion back to passenger service, with her funnel being painted in the traditional Cunard orange with black stripes, which are known as "hands," for the first time, during the refit the hull's exterior a decision was made to repaint the hull in a light pebble grey. The ship returned to service on 7 August 1982. The new colour scheme proved unpopular with passengers, as well as difficult to maintain, so the hull reverted to traditional colours in 1983. Later that year, ''QE2'' was fitted with a magrodome over her quarterdeck pool.


Diesel era and Project Lifestyle

''QE2'' once again experienced mechanical problems following her annual overhaul in November 1983. Boiler problems caused Cunard to cancel a cruise, and, in October 1984, an electrical fire caused a complete loss of power. The ship was delayed for several days before power could be restored. Instead of replacing the ''QE2'' with a newer vessel, Cunard decided that it was more prudent to simply make improvements to her. Therefore, from 27 October 1986 to 25 April 1987, ''QE2'' underwent one of her most significant refurbishments when she was converted by Lloyd Werft at their shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany from steam power to diesel. Nine MAN B&W diesel-electric engines, new propellers and a heat recovery system (to use heat expelled by the engines) were fitted, which halved the fuel consumption. With this new propulsion system, ''QE2'' was expected to serve another 20 years with Cunard. The passenger accommodation was also modernised. The refurbishment cost over £100 million. On 7 August 1992, the underside of the
hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...
was extensively damaged when she ran aground south of Cuttyhunk Island near
Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...
, 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, overestimating the height of
tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...
and underestimating the increase in the ship's draft due to the effect of squat led to the ship's hull scraping rocks on the ocean floor. The accident resulted in the passengers disembarking earlier than scheduled at nearby
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
and the ship being taken out of service while temporary repairs were made in drydock at Boston. Several days later, divers found the red paint from the keel on previously uncharted rocks where the ship struck the bottom. By the mid-1990s, it was decided that ''QE2'' was due for a new look and in 1994 the ship was given a multimillion-pound refurbishment in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
code-named Project Lifestyle. On 11 September 1995, ''QE2'' encountered a
rogue wave A rogue wave is an abnormally large ocean wave. Rogue wave may also refer to: * Optical rogue waves, are rare pulses of light analogous to rogue or freak ocean waves. * Rogue Wave Software, a software company * Rogue Wave (band), an American in ...
, estimated at , caused by
Hurricane Luis Hurricane Luis was a long lived and powerful tropical cyclone that was the strongest hurricane to make landfall and the third-most intense hurricane recorded during the 1995 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm, along with Humberto, Iris, and ...
in the North Atlantic Ocean about south of eastern
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
. One year later, during her twentieth world cruise, she completed her four millionth mile. The ship had sailed the equivalent of 185 times around the planet. ''QE2'' celebrated the 30th anniversary of her maiden voyage in Southampton in 1999. In three decades she had 1,159 voyages, sailed and carried over two million passengers.


Later years

Following the 1998 acquisition of the Cunard Line by
Carnival Corporation Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...
, in 1999 ''QE2'' was given a US$30 million refurbishment which included refreshing various public rooms, and a new colour palette in the passenger cabins. The Royal Promenade, which formerly housed upscale shops such as
Burberry Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry and headquartered in London, England. It designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats, leather accessories, and footwear. It is l ...
, H. Stern and
Aquascutum Aquascutum is a British heritage luxury fashion house that designs, licences and distributes ready to wear and accessories. It is owned by Shandong Ruyi. History Beginnings Aquascutum was established in 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition ...
, were replaced by boutiques typical of cruise ships, selling perfumes, watches and logo items. During this refit, the hull was stripped to bare metal, and the ship repainted in the traditional Cunard colours of matte black (Federal Grey) with a white superstructure. On 29 August 2002, ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' became the first merchant ship to sail more than 5 million nautical miles at sea. In 2004, the vessel stopped plying the traditional transatlantic route and began full-time cruising, the transatlantic route having been assigned to Cunard's new flagship, . However, ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' still undertook an annual world cruise and regular trips around the Mediterranean. By this time, she lacked the amenities to rival newer, larger cruise ships, but she still had unique features such as her ballrooms, hospital, and 6,000-book library. ''QE2'' remained the fastest cruise ship afloat (28.5 knots), with fuel economy at this speed at 49.5 ft to the gallon (4 m/L). While cruising at slower speeds efficiency was improved to 125 ft per gallon (10 m/L). On 5 November 2004, ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' became Cunard's longest serving express liner, surpassing s 35 years, while on 4 September 2005, during a call to the port of Sydney, Nova Scotia, ''QE2'' became the longest serving Cunarder, surpassing s record. At the end of her 2005 world cruise, some pieces of her artwork were damaged when some crew members who had become
inebriated Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of alcohol. The technical term ''intoxication ...
at an on-board crew party, went on a vandalism rampage through the public areas of the ship. A unique tapestry of ''Queen Elizabeth 2'', commissioned for the launch of the ship, was thrown overboard by a drunken crewman. An oil painting of
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
and two other tapestries were also damaged, along with a part of the entertainment area and a lifeboat. The crew members involved were dismissed from service. On 20 February 2007 ''Queen Elizabeth 2'', while on her annual world cruise, met her running mate and successor flagship ''QM2'' (herself on her maiden world cruise) in
Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane ...
, 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.


Retirement announcement

On 18 June 2007, Cunard announced that ''QE2'' had been bought by the
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
investment company Istithmar for $100 million. Her retirement, in part, was forced by the oncoming June 2010 implementation of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations, which would have forced large and expensive structural changes to the ship.


Retirement and final Cunard voyage

In a ceremonial display before her retirement, ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' met and ''Queen Mary 2'' near the
Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...
in
New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...
on 13 January 2008, with a celebratory fireworks display; ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' and ''Queen Victoria'' had made a tandem crossing of the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
for the meet. This marked the first time three ''Cunard Queens'' had been present in the same location. (Cunard stated this would be the last time these three particular ships would meet, due to the impending retirement of ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. However, due to a change in ''QE2''s schedule, the three ships met again in Southampton on 22 April 2008.) ''QE2'' shared the harbour at
Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...
with ''Queen Victoria'' on 19 July 2008, where the two Cunarders exchanged whistle blasts. On 3 October 2008, ''QE2'' set off from
Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...
for Douglas Bay on her farewell tour of Ireland and Britain, before heading for
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
. She left Liverpool and arrived in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
on 4 October 2008, before moving to
Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...
the next day (the ship's height with funnel makes it impossible to pass under the
Erskine Bridge The Erskine Bridge is a multi span cable-stayed box girder bridge spanning the River Clyde in west central Scotland. The bridge connects West Dunbartonshire with Renfrewshire and can be used by all types of motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrian ...
so Clydebank is not reachable). There she was escorted by Royal Navy destroyer and visited by . The farewell was viewed by large crowds and concluded with a firework display. ''QE2'' then sailed around Scotland to the
Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...
on 7 October 2008, where she anchored in the shadow of the
Forth Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...
. The next day, following an RAF flypast, she left amidst a flotilla of small craft to head to
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
, before returning to Southampton.


Final Westbound and Eastbound Transatlantic Crossings

''QE2'' completed her final Atlantic crossings in tandem with her successor, ''QM2''. The ships departed for the final westbound crossing from Southampton on 10 October, sailing tandem and arriving in New York City one final time on 16 October. The Queen Mary 2 docked at the Brooklyn cruise terminal, while the QE2 docked in Manhattan. The two liners departed New York on 16 October for the final eastbound crossing, arriving in Southampton on 22 October. This marked the end of ''QE2''s transatlantic 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 The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...
near the
Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed we ...
entrance at 5.26 am, on a triangular sandbank roughly equidistant between the mouth of Southampton Water and
East Cowes East Cowes is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. It has a population of 8,428 according to the United Kingdom Census ...
named Bramble Bank.
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
reported "
Cunard The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...
has confirmed it touched the bottom at the Brambles Turn sandbank (sandback) near
Calshot Calshot is a coastal village in Hampshire, England, at the west corner of Southampton Water where it joins the Solent.OS Explorer Map, New Forest, Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey B4 edition (2013). History In 1539, Henry VIII ord ...
,
Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed we ...
, with three tugs attached to her
stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...
(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 6.10 am. She had been refloated and was 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
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...
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. ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' left
Southampton Docks The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. After the Port of Felixstowe, ...
for the final time at 1915 GMT on 11 November 2008, to begin her farewell voyage by the name of "''QE2''s Final Voyage". After purchasing her for US$100 million her ownership passed to
Nakheel Properties Nakheel Properties () is a real estate development company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The formal name of the company is Nakheel PJSC (private joint stock company) and it was a subsidiary of Dubai World and a private state-owned enterpr ...
, a company of
Dubai World Dubai World () is an investment company that manages and supervises a portfolio of businesses and projects for the Government of Dubai across a wide range of industry segments and projects that promote Dubai as a hub for commerce and trading. A ...
, on 26 November. The decommissioning of the ship was particularly poignant for ''Queen Elizabeth 2''s only permanent resident, Beatrice Muller, aged 89, who lived on board in retirement for nine years, at a cost of some £3,500 (~€4,300, ~$5,400) per month. At the time of her retirement, ''QE2'' had sailed 5.8 million nautical miles, carried close to 3 million passengers and completed 806 transatlantic crossings, plus 26 world cruises.


Layup


Istithmar, Nakheel, ''QE2'' in Dubai and Cape Town hotel proposal

Her final voyage from Southampton to Dubai under the command of Captain
Ian McNaught Captain Sir Ian McNaught, MNM (born 1954) is a Master Mariner who served as Deputy Master of Trinity House, and was Captain of ships for Cunard and Seabourn including the last Captain of the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2). Education He studied at ...
began on 11 November 2008, arriving on 26 November in a flotilla of 60 smaller vessels, led by MY ''Dubai'', the personal yacht of Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Dubai, in time for her official handover the following day. She was greeted with a fly-past from an
Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...
jet and a huge fireworks display, while thousands of people gathered at the
Mina Rashid Mina Rashid (; ), also referred to as Port Rashid, is a man-made cruise terminal in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was Dubai's first commercial port; in 2018 cargo operations moved to Jebel Ali Port. It is a seafront coastal destination, tourist ...
, waving the flags of the Union Jack, United Kingdom and the Flag of the United Arab Emirates, United Arab Emirates. Since her arrival in Dubai ''QE2'' 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. She was expected to be refurbished and berthed permanently at Nakheel's
Palm Jumeirah The Palm Jumeirah is an archipelago of artificial islands on the Persian Gulf in Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is part of a larger series of developments called the Palm Islands, including Palm Jebel Ali and the Dubai Islands, ...
as "a luxury floating hotel, retail, museum and entertainment destination." The refurbishment planned to see ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' transformed into a tourist destination in Dubai; however, due to the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, ''QE2'' remained moored at Port Rashid awaiting a decision about her future. ''QE2'' remained an oceangoing vessel at this time, and as such, former Captain Ronald Warwick of ''QE2'' and (''QM2'') and retired commodore of the Cunard Line was initially employed by V-Ships, who managed ''QE2'' post the Cunard handed her over as the vessel's legal master, but was replaced by other V-Ships captains over time as the ship remained idle. It was anticipated that ''QE2'' would be moved to the Dubai Drydocks sometime in 2009 to begin a series of far-reaching refurbishments which would result in a conversion into a floating hotel. Due to the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
and the Great Recession, it was rumoured that ''QE2''s refurbishment and hotel conversion would not take place and that the ship would be resold. These rumours resulted in the owners, Istithmar, issuing a series of press releases stating that plans for QE2's conversion were ongoing, with no intention to sell. However, since arriving in Dubai the only visible exterior change to ''QE2'' was the painting out of the Cunard titles from the ship's superstructure. ''QE2'' was joined in Mina Rashid by ''QM2'' on 21 March 2009 while ''QM2'' visited Dubai as part of her 2009 world cruise. She was joined once again by (''QV'') on 29 March 2009 as a part of her 2009 world cruise. ''QM2'' and ''QV'' again visited ''QE2'' in 2010 and on 31 March 2011 the new ''(QE)'' called at Dubai during her maiden world cruise – photos were arranged by Cunard to capture the occasion. ''QM2'' called in Dubai two days after ''QE'' left. In April 2009, a supposed concept model of the post-refurbishment ''Hotel QE2'' was shown for sale on an online auction website. The model depicted a much altered ''QE2''. In June 2009, the ''Southampton Daily Echo'' reported that ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' would return to the UK as an operating cruise ship. On 10 July 2009, it was revealed that ''QE2'' might sail to Cape Town, South Africa, to become a floating hotel for use primarily during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in a Dubai World sponsored venture at the V&A Waterfront. This was confirmed by Nakheel on 20 July 2009. In preparation for this expected voyage the ship was placed into the Dubai Drydock and underwent an extensive exterior refurbishment. During this refit, the ship's underwater hull was repainted and inspected. Shortly after the refit, ''QE2'' was registered under the flag of Vanuatu, and Port Vila was painted on her stern, replacing Southampton. ''QE2'' returned to Port Rashid, where it was anticipated she would soon sail for Cape Town. The arrival of ''QE2'' in Cape Town was expected to create many local jobs including hotel staff, restaurant staff, chefs, cleaners and shop attendants, all being sourced from the local workforce. But, in January 2010, it was confirmed that ''QE2'' would not be moved to Cape Town.


2010 sale and relocation speculation

In early 2010, due to the continued poor financial performance of Dubai World, there was much media speculation that ''QE2'', along with other assets owned by Istithmar, Dubai World's private-equity arm, would be sold to raise capital. Despite this sale speculation, a number of alternative locations for QE2 were cited including London, Singapore,
Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...
, Japan and Fremantle, the latter showing interest in using QE2 as a hotel for the ISAF Sailing World Championships to be held in December 2011. However, as at June 2010 Nakheel's official statement regarding QE2 was that "a number of options being considered for QE2".


2011 drifting

On 28 January 2011 during a heavy dust storm, ''QE2'' broke loose from her moorings and drifted out into the channel at Port Rashid. She was attended by pilots and tugs and safely returned to berth at Port Rashid. Images of ''QE2s unexpected movements appeared on-line after being taken by an observer on the ship in front of QE2.


Warm layup

Throughout 2011 and 2012, ''QE2'' remained berthed at Port Mina Rashid in Dubai . She was maintained in a seaworthy condition and generated her own power. Each of her nine diesel generators were turned over and used to power the ship. A live-in crew of approximately 50 people maintained ''QE2'' to a high standard. Activities include painting, maintenance, cabin checks, and overhauls of machinery. Istithmar were considering plans for ''QE2'' which could have involved the ship sailing to an alternative location under her own power. On 21 March 2011, ''QM2'' called in Dubai and docked close to ''QE2''. During the departure, the two ships sounded their horns.


2011 move to Liverpool plan, Port Rashid and ''QE2'' development plans

On 28 September 2011 news circulated that a plan was being formulated to return QE2 to the United Kingdom by berthing her in Liverpool. Liverpool has a historic connection with
Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...
being the first British home for the line as well as housing the iconic Cunard Building. It was revealed that Liverpool Vision, the economic development company responsible for Liverpool's regeneration, has been involved in confidential discussions with Out of Time Concepts, a company headed by a former Chief Engineer on the ship, who recently advised its current owners on plans to turn it into a luxury hotel in
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
. In a letter from Out of Time Concepts to Liverpool Vision, it was explained that "The free global media attention derived from bringing home ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' will without question promote Liverpool's new waterfront developments, its amazing architecture, its maritime and world heritage sites, its museums, its culture and its history". On the same week that the Liverpool Vision plans were revealed, Nakheel stated that plans for ''QE2'' to be berthed at The Palm had been dropped because they now planned to build 102 houses on the site which was once intended to be named the QE2 Precinct. Nakheel suggested that ''Queen Elizabeth 2'', under the ownership of Istithmar, would remain at Port Rashid to become an integral part of the growing cruise terminal. "The ''QE2'' would be placed in a much better location", Ali Rashid Lootah, the chairman of Nakheel, told Dubai's The National newspaper "The Government of Dubai is developing an up-to-date modern cruise terminal which will mean a better environment", confirming the ship would remain in Dubai for the foreseeable future.


2011–2012 New Year's party aboard ''QE2''

On 31 December 2011, ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' was the location of a lavish New Year's Eve party in Dubai. The black tie event was run by Global Event Management and included over 1,000 guests. Global Event Management were offering events aboard QE2 in Dubai for 2012 and 2013.


July 2012: Hotel announcement

On 2 July 2012 in a coordinated press release, the ship's owner, operator and Port Rashid operator, DP Ports, jointly announced ''QE2'' would re-open as a 300-bed hotel after an 18-month refit. The release claims the ship was to be refitted to restore original features, including her 1994–2008 'Heritage Trail' of classic Cunard artefacts. The ship was to be berthed alongside a redeveloped Port Rashid cruise terminal which would double as a maritime museum.


Scrapping in China, ''QE2'' London and ''QE2'' Asia

On 23 December 2012, it was reported that ''QE2'' had been sold for scrapping in China for £20 million, after a bid to return her to the UK was rejected. With monthly berthing and maintenance charges of £650,000, it was reported that a Chinese salvage crew arrived at the vessel on 21 December, to replace a crew of 40 which has been maintaining the vessel since it arrived at Port Rashid. However, Cunard dismissed the reports as "pure speculation".CUNARD status update
Cunard Facebook page, 24 December 2012.Retrieved 24 December 2012
When the ship was sold in 2007, a clause in the contract which started from her retirement in 2009 stipulated a ten-year "no onward sale" clause, without payment of a full purchase price default penalty. The "''QE2'' London" Plan had included a £20 million bid for ''QE2'' and a further £40 million refurbishment that was supposed to create more than 2,000 jobs in London, with ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' docked near the The O2 Arena, O2 Arena. It had reportedly obtained the support of the then London Mayor Boris Johnson. On 17 January 2013, the Dubai Drydocks World announced that ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' would be sent to an unknown location in Asia to serve as a floating luxury hotel, shopping mall, and museum. Despite this move, the QE2 London team stated on the same day that "We believe our investors can show Dubai that ''QE2'' London is still the best proposal".


"Bring ''QE2'' Home" proposals

Cunard's 175th anniversary celebrations on 25 May 2015 led to renewed interest in ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. John Chillingworth secured the backing of London mayor Boris Johnson for a plan to anchor the ship opposite The O2 Arena at Greenwich. A move to London however would require the ship to pass through the Thames Barrier. In late 2015 there was disagreement between ship preservation advocates and harbour authorities on whether a dead ship of her size could safely manoeuvre through the barrier. John Houston suggested returning the ship to Greenock as a maritime attraction, hotel and events space. Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe has called on the UK and Scottish governments to campaign to buy the ship, saying that "Bringing the ''QE2'' home is a Herculean task, one that requires national support in Scotland and perhaps across the UK, if it has any chance of happening." In January 2016 Aubrey Fawcett, the chair of the working group to regenerate the Clyde, admitted defeat in this effort as ''QE2's'' owners refused to respond to any requests regarding her condition or sale. "Consequently, we must conclude that it is highly unlikely that Scotland features in the future plans for the vessel."


2015–2016

On 12 August 2015, the QE2 was observed to have been moved from her berth within Dubai Dry Docks, where she had been since January 2013, to a more open location within Port Rashid. On 17 November 2015, QE2 was again moved within Port Rashid, to the former cruise terminal. It was not known whether these recent moves are connected with any of the publicly known plans regarding the ship's fate. Between May and August 2016, observers noted that the ship's lifeboats were lowered and stored on a nearby car park. Following this, the lifeboat davits were removed in September, giving the ship an altered profile on her boat deck. Subsequently, the wooden decking was removed from the deck and replaced by synthetic block flooring.


50th anniversary celebration

September 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of QE2's launch. To mark the occasion, Cunard Line, the ship's former owners, arranged a commemorative voyage aboard MS ''Queen Elizabeth'' – a 17-night cruise, with special activities and theme days. Meanwhile, in Glasgow, the QE2 Story Forum hosted a 50th anniversary conference with Captain Nick Bates as a speaker. Several books were released for the anniversary, including ''Building the Queen Elizabeth 2'' by Cunard historian Michael Gallagher, and ''QE2: A 50th Anniversary Celebration'' by Chris Frame and Rachelle Cross.


Hotel and tourist attraction

''Queen Elizabeth 2'' reopened in Dubai as a floating hotel on 18 April 2018 following an extensive refurbishment. Over 2.7 million man-hours were committed to the work to upgrade and rebuild the ship to meet hotel standards. This included a full hull repaint and the replacing of Port Vila registry with Dubai on her stern. It was a 'soft opening' while remaining work continued. On board is a new QE2 Heritage Exhibition, adjacent to the lobby, detailing the vessel's history. The ship was operated by PCFC Hotels, a division of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, which is owned by the Dubai government. French hospitality group Accor took over operation of the hotel and attraction in May 2022. Accor announced plans to further renovate the vessel to encompass 447 rooms, and has managed the property since 2024.


See also

* * * *


References


Sources

* * * * *


External links


''Queen Elizabeth 2'' official websites


''Queen Elizabeth 2'' official website


''Queen Elizabeth 2'' official social media


''Facebook''''Instagram''


''QE2'' history websites


Sam Warwick's ''QE2'' homepage – since 1996BBC Hampshire – ''QE2'' One Year OnBomb threats, champagne and dead whales – 50 remarkable facts about the QE2 ''Daily Telegraph''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Elizabeth 2 1967 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Cruise ships Maritime incidents in 1972 Falklands War in South Georgia Falklands War naval ships of the United Kingdom Ocean liners of the United Kingdom Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Rogue wave incidents Ships of the Cunard Line Steamships Troop ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1992 Maritime incidents in 1995 Tourist attractions in Dubai Accor