Queen Elizabeth ( RMS Queen Elizabeth ) is an ocean liner built for the Cunard Line shipping company. Among other things, he also drove mail, for which he received the RMS index ( English Royal Mail Ship ). The ship was named after Queen Elizabeth . In the period from 1940 to 1972, the ship was the largest passenger liner in the world.
| Queen Elizabeth | |
|---|---|
| RMS Queen Elizabeth (1940-1968) MV Elizabeth (1968-1970) MV Seawise University (1970-1972) | |
 | |
| Flag |  Great Britain |
| Class and type of vessel | Passenger ship class passenger liner |
| IMO Number | |
| Operator | Cunard line |
| Manufacturer | John brown & company |
| Launched | September 27, 1938 |
| Commissioned | March 3, 1940 |
| Withdrawn from the fleet | November 10, 1968 |
| Status | Burned out. Cut to metal. |
| Main characteristics | |
| Displacement | 83 673 t |
| Length | 314 m |
| Width | 36 m |
| Height | 71 m |
| Draft | 12 m |
| Engines | Steam turbines |
| Power | 200 000 h.p. [one] |
| Mover | 4 screws |
| Speed | 28 knots (51.8 km / h ) |
| Crew | 1,000 people |
| Passenger capacity | 2,283 passengers |
Content
Vessel History
Build
In May 1936 , after another Kunard Line liner , Queen Mary , set off on its first voyage, the development of the next ship, called Queen Elizabeth, was announced.
The liner was laid in December 1936 at the shipyard "John Brown and Company" in the city of Clydebank ( eng. Clydebank ), Scotland . The new ship differed from the Queen Mary in an improved design [2] . In addition, twelve steam boilers were installed on Queen Elizabeth instead of twenty four, as on Queen Mary, which allowed one chimney to be removed. This allowed to significantly increase the size of the deck, as well as cargo and passenger capacity .
The launching of the ship took place on September 27, 1938 in the presence of the wife of King of Great Britain George VI, Queen Consort Elizabeth [2] .
While Queen Elizabeth was in the outfitting dock , special licenses were issued on the suitability of the ship for navigation . December 29 engine tests were conducted.
After some time, it was decided to send the ship to Southampton and complete the completion there [2] . This was done in order to prevent German spies from monitoring the ship.
Another important reason was the need to complete the battleship "Duke of York" , which then could only be carried out at the John Brown shipyard .
The ship was repainted gray and equipped with a minimum crew. In March 1940, Queen Elizabeth left Clydebank.
During the voyage, the captain of the ship was instructed to change course and head to New York [2] . On the same day, at the estimated time of arrival of the ship in Southampton , the city was bombarded by the Luftwaffe .
Six days later, the ship crossed the Atlantic and arrived in New York , where it was moored next to the RMS Queen Mary and the SS Normandie . Thus, in one place at the same time were the three largest liners in the world [2] .
Participation in World War II
Queen Elizabeth left New York Port on November 13 and headed for Singapore to transport troops . Upon arrival, anti-aircraft guns were installed on the ship, and the hull was repainted black , leaving only the deck structures grayed out .
On February 11, Queen Elizabeth left the port of Singapore and began transporting Australian troops to Asia and Africa . After 1942, the ship was relocated to the North Atlantic to transport American troops to Europe .
Cunard Line's other liner , Queen Mary , was also used as a military vehicle . Due to their high speed, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth could fly without a convoy [2] .
During its service, the ship transported more than 750,000 military personnel [2] .
Post-War Career
After the end of World War II , Queen Elizabeth was released from military service. In Greenock , Scotland , the ship was converted back to a passenger liner [2] . The latest Queen Elizabeth sea trials were conducted while traveling to Arran Island . During the cruise, Queen Elizabeth and her daughters Elizabeth and Margaret were on board the ship . The tests were conducted under the supervision of Sir Percy Bates ( English Sir Percy Bates ), who made sure that the speed of the liner did not exceed 30 knots (55.5 km / h ). This was to ensure that Queen Elizabeth did not break the Queen Mary speed record . After sea trials, the liner was sent to New York .
Despite similar specifications, Queen Elizabeth, unlike Queen Mary, was never [2] awarded the Atlantic Blue Ribbon Award , which was awarded to ocean liners for the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic .
On April 14, 1947, Queen Elizabeth ran aground near Southampton . The next day the ship was removed from it.
Together with Queen Mary , Queen Elizabeth was a leader in passenger transportation [2] , but after the advent of jet aircraft in the late 50s, the ship became unprofitable . For a while, the ship cruised between Nassau and New York . Work was done to install an outdoor pool and improve air conditioning . The attempt to save the situation was unsuccessful: Queen Elizabeth had high fuel consumption , low draft, which made it impossible to enter ports located on the islands, and a large width that made it impossible for the liner to pass through the Panama Canal .
All this served as the reason that the 1968 Queen Elizabeth was withdrawn from the fleet . In 1969, Queen Elizabeth was replaced by the new, more economical Queen Elizabeth 2 liner .
Recent years
In 1968, Queen Elizabeth was sold to a group of businessmen from Philadelphia who were planning to convert the ship into a floating hotel and part-time tourist center in Florida [2] , but in 1970, due to financial difficulties, Queen Elizabeth was sold to a Hong Kong magnate [ 2] . He decided to turn the liner into a maritime university for the training program "Semester at Sea" ( English Semester at Sea, SAS ) [2] .
After some time, the ship was renamed "Seawise University" and painted white.
On January 9, 1972, there was a big fire on the liner, as a result of which it capsized and sank in Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong . In the period from 1974 to 1975, most of the ship was dismantled for scrap . Nevertheless, the keel of the liner and steam turbines still rest at the bottom of the bay [2] . On local sea charts, the Queen Elizabeth crash site is marked as dangerous for anchoring ships.
After the collapse of Queen Elizabeth, the largest passenger ship was the SS France liner [2] .
Interesting Facts
In 1974, the ninth James Bond movie , The Man with the Golden Gun, was filmed on the sunken ship . According to the plot , the secret headquarters of MI-6 was located on Queen Elizabeth.
Notes
- ↑ RMS Queen Elizabeth .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Transatlantic passenger ship Queen Elizabeth (Russian)