heinz

Was the Queen elizabeth one the Queen's ship in UK or something? When did it retire? What was it's history exactly?

Ally

The original, and best IMO, Queen Elizabeth was a sister to the original, and also best, Queen Mary. They broke many records for Transatlantic crossings, both served during WW2 and then went onto take many thousands of passengers tween Southampton and New York. Queen Elizabeth was sold and was in the process of being converted into a floating university in Hong Kong harbour when she was gutted by fire and after some time sitting half sunk, she was later scrapped. A good site that reflects her history can be found here...

http://www.ocean-liners.com/ships/queenelizabeth.asp

Another, more detailed site can be found here...

http://uncommonjourneys.com/pages/qe/

By clicking on the second site, and then on 'retirement and demise' you will see some very sad photos of her loss in 1972.

I was very fortunate to have sailed on her in 1967, however I was too young to really understand. I often saw her arriving and departing Southampton on her voyages though, including her last ever departure after she was sold. She was a beautiful and gracious ship and she, along with Mary, were very sadly missed and still are.

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Ally - CruisingTalk Administrator

1965 - Cunard Queen Mary
1967 - Cunard Queen Elizabeth
1970 - Cunard Queen Elizabeth 2
1971 - P&O Oriana
1972 - SS France
1975 - SS Leopard
1977 - P&O Canberra
2005 - NCL Norwegian Jewel - Shakedown Cruise - Jersey
2005/6 - NCL Norwegian Crown - Chile, Cape Horn, Falkland Islands, Uruguay & Argentina - Christmas/New Year cruise
2006 - Fred Olsen Braemar Mini Cruise - Amsterdam & Zeebrugge
2007 - Fred Olsen Braemar Transatlantic - Jamaica, Cuba, Bahamas, Bermuda & Azores
2007 - Fred Olsen Braemar Mini Cruise - Guernsey & Amsterdam
2007 - NCL Norwegian Gem - Shakedown Cruise - Amsterdam
2008 - Costa Allegra - Hong Kong, Philippines, Borneo, Brunei, Singapore, Saigon, Da-Nang & Sanya

Coming up next.....

10/10/2009 - Costa Classica - Grand Oriental Cruise - Shanghai, Nagasaki, Tokyo, Kobe, Naha, Keelung and Hong Kong - 16 Nights Cruising in: 321 day(s), 8 hour(s), 8 minute(s)