16 September 2009: RMS Queen Elizabeth 2

The keel for RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 was laid down as hull number 736 in the famous John Brown’s Shipyard in Clydebank on 5 July 1965.  It was positioned in the same slipway that had been used to build the Lusitania, Aquitania, RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth.

Often referred to simply as the ‘QE2’, the liner was launched and named on 20 September 1967 by Queen Elizabeth II.  The cord that released the traditional bottle of champagne was cut with the same pair of gold scissors that her grandmother used in 1934 to christen the Queen Mary, and her mother used in 1938 to christen the Queen Elizabeth.

On 19 November 1968, when this photograph was taken, the QE2 left her berth at John Brown’s Shipyard and sailed down the River Clyde to a dry dock at Inchgreen, Greenock, for final trials and commissioning. Her maiden voyage, from Southampton to New York, took place on 2 May 1969.

The final voyage of the QE2 began on 11 November 2008, sailing from Southampton to Dubai, where it was intended that the liner would become a floating hotel.  However, it has recently been announced that the QE2 will move to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town to be used as a hotel in time for the 2010 Football World Cup.