on her departure from the Clyde on 12th March 1966. The wording of the Cunard Insurance Actspecified 'the construction of two vessels in Great Britain', which precluded the Belfast yard from tendering as Belfast, although in the UK, was not in Great Britain. The climate of southern Florida was much harder on Queen Elizabeth than the climate of southern California was on Queen Mary. This enabled a third anchor, the bower, to be carried allowing the anchr to fall well clear of the stem. Only a little fuel remained after the transatlantic crossing, but a barge moved alongside to take it off as necessary. In all, 2,228 passengers had booked passage on the QUEEN ELIZABETH's maiden voyage. The NORMANDIE had one edge on the QUEEN MARY in being aesthetically more pleasing through her revolutionary streamlining and lack of visible deck 'clutter'. During the turnround in New York on her second G.I. Early in the afternoon of 9th November a large, two-funnelled steamer was sighted, some six to seven miles away. Cunard White Star Tourist Class, January 1949. [15], Queen Elizabeth left the port of New York on 13 November 1940 for Singapore to receive her troopship conversion. A/CPO Lornie Peter Barnard. A minimal crew of four hundred were assigned for the trip; most were transferred from Aquitania and told that this would be a short coastal voyage to Southampton. This also suffered from low bookings and became known as the 'Ghost Ship Voyage'. Together with Queen Mary and in competition with the American liners SSUnited States and SSAmerica, Queen Elizabeth dominated the transatlantic passenger trade until their fortunes began to decline with the advent of the faster and more economical jet airliner in the late 1950s. The QUEEN ELIZABETH at the fitting-out berth at John Brown's shipyard. He arrived at seven in the morning on Saturday 2nd March 1940 with sealed orders which were only to be opened when the QUEEN ELIZABETH was out at sea. In late 1968, Queen Elizabeth was sold to the Elizabeth Corporation, with 15% of the company controlled by a group of Philadelphia businessmen and 85% retained by Cunard. The new centrally-placed companionway is in place in this photo and there's a repaint where the ladders once were. In 1951 the 'Queens' sailed from Southampton every 15 or 17 days, but the 1952 schedules show each liner sailing everyfourteen days, enabling fifteen round voyages to be made between May and October compared with just eleven in 1951. Launched, September 27, 1938. After Esquimalt the QUEEN ELIZABETH sailed for San Francisco, and, on arrival, briefly ran aground near the Golden Gate Bridge. ', The QUEEN ELIZABETH slips away from Southampton for the, last time in the early morning fog of 28th November 1968. For pre-1747 records, you need to look speculatively through material from other government departments or courts that may have had an interest in merchant navy affairs, such as: Use theadvanced search in Discovery, our catalogue, to search for records using the department codes above and relevant keywords such as ships, shipping, or manifest. [19] After 1942, the two Queens were relocated to the North Atlantic for the transportation of American troops to Europe. The SEAWISE UNIVERSITY (ex QUEEN ELIZABETH) at Cape Town, on 14th June 1971, on passage to Hong Kong. The Elizabeth carried 5,600 Australian troops to bolster the defences of Egypt against the enemy's incursions into North Africa. ", The promenade deck main square on the QUEEN ELIZABETH. For instance, the QUEEN ELIZABETH was out of service from 21st July to 30th July 1952 and this included six days in the King George V dry dock. TheNational Records of Scotlandholds agreements and crew lists under the reference BT 3, covering 1867-1913, for Scottish ships only. This, it is stated, is the largest number carried in any transatlantic ship during the year and gives an average of 1,593 passengers in each sailing. Sir Percy Bates had wisely waited for anticipated developments in boiler design to occur. Perhaps the advent of the fully air-conditioned UNITED STATES prompted Cunard to take this measure. WebFirst time the Queen Mary carried American troops (8,398 troops, 905 crew). Speed varied between 7 and 11 knots, with the higher speed using 300 tons of oil per day. To ensure that good progress was maintained during construction, the General and Shipyard Managers met all the departmental head foremen at the gangway every Friday. Steam was raised on all boilers on 1st March. The QUEEN ELIZABETH arrived at Singapore three weeks after leaving New York for a seven-week conversion into a troopship with accommodation for 5,000 troops. This shipping empire was owned by a Mr C.Y. end of her 'Farewell Cruise' on 15th November 1968. Apparently the torpedo had exploded well away from the ship. The two funnels were self-supporting and braced internally to give a cleaner-looking appearance. The Mercantile Marine Act of 1850 required ships masters to also keep a log book to record events on board a ship, which included seamens conduct. Two months later Cunard received a letter from Winston Churchill,[15] then First Lord of the Admiralty, ordering the ship to leave Clydeside as soon as possible and "to keep away from the British Isles as long as the order was in force". Keel laid on December 4, 1936. Use the search box contained withinBT 98to search by ships Official Number and date. The only signs of White Star which remained were the buff funnels of the BRITANNIC and the GEORGIC. Cunard's appropriated pilot, Captain Bowyer, was not available as he was 'fogbound' on another vessel. being transported (not for $100) in the QUEEN ELIZABETH who, in a burst of enthusiasm, said to one of the officers: "Say, why can't you British build a ship like this?" The ship was then secured so that no one could board her without prior permission, including port officials. The continuing popularity of the ', The general assumption that the replacements for the ', Of all the strikes and disputes that hit the QUEEN ELIZABETH, the most catastrophic was the 42-day seamen's strike of May and June 1966. Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary were used as troop transports during the Second World War. The QUEEN ELIZABETH was embedded in mud to a point just below the bridge. The steamer observed by Kessler had been travelling at speed. Use the search box in BT 99 to search by name of ship or official number. You are unlikely to find records by searching for the names of ships or seamen, as the records have not been indexed in that way. Agreements for Home Trade Ships (Schedule B)These agreements covered coastal and fishing ships. [36], Ian Fleming set the climax to his 1956 James Bond novel Diamonds Are Forever on Queen Elizabeth. Shuttle', her first such voyage leaving New York for the Clyde on 5th June 1942. Four days later she arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, with 12,517 passengers and 864 crew. John Brown Image The queen is greeted by Sir Percy Bates of Cunard John Brown Image The front cover of the official launching booklet for the Queen Elizabeth Following his retirement, Sir James was in great demand as a lecturer and one day was telling some schoolchildren of the days when 2,000 lbs of bacon and 32,000 eggs were cooked for breakfast every day. Photographed on the QUEEN ELIZABETH, sometime. This, then, is the story of the QUEEN ELIZABETH, the world's largest liner. The starboard side of the promenade deck, looking aft. But the QUEEN ELIZABETH made only 38 crossings and yet carried 66,000 passengers, giving a average of 1,752. !!! Townley and his hastily signed-on crew of four hundred Cunard personnel were told by a company representative before they left to pack for a voyage where they could be away from home for up to six months.[16]. The QUEEN ELIZABETH was reported as being in excellent shape with her engines in tip-top condition. With the forward well deck omitted, a more refined hull shape was achieved, and a sharper, raked bow was added for a third bow-anchor point. She was there to launch the second of Cunard's superliners - the QUEEN ELIZABETH. The QUEEN ELIZABETH was now equipped to carry 15,000 troops although the numbers were reduced to 12,000 in the winter months. These are undeniable facts. The value of '534' for insurance purposes during building was fixed at the full price payable by Cunard, namely 4 million. The railway company expressed the view that the projected dry dock could not be started for some eight to ten years and that it would take between four and five years to complete. Her propellers were removed and cleaned and the underwater hull cleaned and painted. WebRMS Queen Elizabeth Passenger Lists 1947-1954 RMS Queen Elizabeth, World's Largest Liner. They were huge sitting targets in a hostile ocean. August 2 - 7 First time a complete division was carried on any ship. Seaman Lornie Peter Barnard. Though it was started it was never finished, due to the economic blizzard in the late 1920s. Winter cruises from New York to the West Indies were poorly patronised and one was cancelled and replaced with an unscheduled Atlantic crossing. On 28th July 1948 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by their younger daughter Princess Margaret Rose, were received on board the QUEEN ELIZABETH, the flagship of Britain's merchant fleet. When the above lines were written in the mid 1920s, the Cunard Line was operating its Southampton - New York express service with the MAURETANIA (1907), the AQUITANIA (1914) and the BERENGARIA (1913). The dock would have to be 124 feet wide at its entrance and have a minimum depth of 40 feet. WebSearch and download () lists of passengers boarding at UK and Irish ports and travelling to places such as America, Canada, India, New Zealand and Australia between 1890 and 1960 (BT 27) on the findmypast.co.uk website and also on the Ancestry.co.uk website. Looking astern over the cabin-class sports deck. Honolulu was interested as were the Australians. For the QUEEN ELIZABETH the war was over. The salvage tug RESCUE arrived on 16th February as the SEAWISE UNIVERSITY continued her southward drift through the Windward Passage into the Caribbean. A barrier was then constructed around the hull to shut her off from the river and to prevent the Clyde-borne silt building up around and under the hull. Dredging had not been completed at Port Everglades so Commodore Marr was instructed to cruise the Elizabeth slowly down the coast to 'show the flag'. The first hint of competition from the airlines came in October 1951 and this resulted in speeding up the turn-round of the 'Queens' in 1952. Both fires were considered suspicious and detectives questioned 2,000 Thorneycroft workmen and some 400 crew. With these improvements, Cunard intended to keep the ship in operation until at least the mid-1970s. The weather was moderate and only slight natural rolling occurred so the liner was force-rolled and the stabilisers immediately became effective. On 8th November the QUEEN ELIZABETH sailed on a 'Farewell Cruise' to Las Palmas and Gibraltar, and was back at Southampton on 15th November. [citation needed]. She urgently needed to be drydocked to have the remains of her launch gear removed from her bottom plates which would then have to be cleaned and painted. Sir Percy Bates told the Southern Railway that it was a question of 'no dry dock, no ship'. [9], Queen Elizabeth sat at the fitting-out dock at the shipyard in her Cunard colours until 2 November 1939, when the Ministry of Shipping issued special licences to declare her seaworthy. By converting water tanks, an additional 1,000 tons of fuel, or about one day's comsumption, could be carried. The 'Cassandra' column in the 'Daily Mirror' on 29th November 1961 was uncharacteristically enthusiastic about the QUEEN ELIZABETH. Ferry boats fuss across the river, dodging between these ships, almost like children running across a busy road.". Top to bottom: the MAURETANIA, the NORMANDIE, the QUEEN MARY. The Pacific was too dangerous for her with both German and Japanese submarines on the prowl. For the purpose of this list, they have been included as Cunard ships. Queen Elizabeth was retired after her final crossing to New York, on 8 December 1968. Crew lists and agreements for Indian crew (or lascars) of British registered ships who enlisted on the Indian sub-continent are called Asiatic agreements. The QUEEN ELIZABETH sailing from Southampton. Just after midnight on 25th September 1967 the two, The QUEEN MARY found a buyerin the form of the City of Long Beach, California and she left Southampton on 31st October 1967 carrying 1,000 passengers on what was billed as 'The Last Great Cruise', involving a passage around Cape Horn. Cunard White Star Tourist Class, January 1949. Dimensions, 987' x 118' While being constructed in the mid-1930s by John Brown and Company at Clydebank, Scotland, the build was known as Hull 552. was given a coloured disc or card (red, white or blue) and this indicated the section of the ship in which he must remain during the voyage. He described it as 'a British understatement with a vengeance, as though the British world of ships and shiplovers looked the other way until she had gone. Questions were soon asked in Parliament as to what possible use the two Cunard leviathans could be in wartime. Dimensions, 987' x 118' It is therefore possible, for example, to find records of deaths of soldiers and prisoners of war returning on ships from the Boer War. The small vessel's skipper hoisted a flag signal: "What ship is that?" John Brown Image The queen is greeted by Sir Percy Bates of Cunard John Brown Image The front cover of the official launching booklet for the Queen Elizabeth This is the story of the ship from the planning stages of the late 1920s, her war operations, her amazingly successful passenger service of the late 1940s and 1950s, and her demise in the mid 1960s. [15] Parts were shipped to Southampton, and preparations were made to move the ship into the King George V Graving Dock when she arrived. research. Costing almost twice as much as the, Sir Percy Bates had wisely waited for anticipated developments in boiler design to occur. The first was New Zealand and the second was Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Group of islands. This argument was buttressed by the statement that the British Government charged the United States for transporting American troops in the QUEEN MARY and the QUEEN ELIZABETH. The now retired Commodore Marr and a former chief engineer of the ship were hired by Tung as advisors for the journey to Hong Kong. It was on 3rd February 1971 that the first engine trials were carried out and sailing day was set for Wedmesday 10th February. Half her crew was paid off and went on leave, whilst around 400 remained with the ship for maintenance, fire watch and to sail the ship on the coastwise voyage to the Clyde. [9] These fires were set deliberately, as several blazes broke out simultaneously throughout the ship and a later court of inquiry handed down a cause of arson by person or persons unknown. Years indicate year of entry into Cunard service. It was named after Dr Gauss, a nineteenth century expert on magnetism, whose theories had enabled the Germans to produce their new lethal magnetic mines. Tonnage: 83,673. Any search results will be divided into alphabetical ranges according to the initial letter of the ships name. Rear Admiral Carruthers Joseph William. Rear Admiral Carruthers Joseph William. For the first time in several years the QUEEN ELIZABETH began to show a profit. the title of each video, exactly as I have shown it above. We'd like to use additional cookies to remember your settings and understand how you use our services. When Cunard requested that the Americans send over an inspector to approve the improvement work as it progressed, the authorities declined. This should be seen in the context of the QUEEN MARY's record of 31.69 knots when she took the Blue Riband of the Atlantic in September 1938. Whilst on the G.I. Although the 'Queens' could easily manage 27 or 28 knots, they were reduced to the convoy's common speed of around 20 knots. Another essential rule was that each man, regardless of rank, should wear or carry his lifebelt when outside his cabin at all times. As an indication of the worsening European situation, the keel of the Royal Navy's newest battleship, HMS DUKE OF YORK, was laid on 5th May 1937 on the slipway adjoining the QUEEN ELIZABETH. She docked on the north side of Pier 90 at 5.pm on the afternoon of Thursday, 7th March 1940. Shuttle' the two. Air travel increased across the Atlantic by 26% in 1958, whilst sea carryings reduced by just four and a half per cent. [28], The ship was destroyed by the fire, and the water sprayed on her by fireboats caused the burnt wreck to sink in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour. The original design for the engines was for single-reduction geared turbines, the brainchild of Sir Charles Parsons, in which a reduction gear box is placed between the turbine and the propeller shaft for the purpose of allowing both the turbines and the propellers to run at speeds of revolution suitable for maximum efficiency; high speeds of revolution are required for turbine efficiency and low speeds for propeller efficiency. Some 30 Cunard staff had been retained, mostly engineers to assist in running the boilers and generators. The maiden voyage had been arranged to depart from Southampton on 16th October 1946. A search on our catalogue of all the available crew lists is only practical for small ports. During two years of near neglect, deterioration had rapidly set in, especially in the fragile boiler tubes. War seemed very much to be a likelihood on that September day, but the King had sent a message which Queen Elizabeth incorporated into her speech. Chamberlain was also convinced of the tremendous importance from a prestige point of view of new large British ships steaming into New York harbour. To many, her appearance must have come as a bit of a surprise for no longer was she in pristine Cunard paintwork of black hull and white superstructure, but she had been completely repainted in dull uniform Admiralty grey. Mr C.Y. From the mid 1940s until the mid 1950s both the 'Queens' were given a short summer overhaul at Southampton. Queen Elizabeth launches the QUEEN ELIZABETH. Not until the Elizabeth had sailed on 2nd March 1940 was it considered safe to release them. With potentially upward of 500 crew requiring to scramble up from their quarters below, the sheer climb would have presented quite a hazard, particularly in bad weather and at a time of emergency. Mildenhall Wilfred Charles. The tender ROMSEY which had brought the officials out to the stricken ship made a solo attempt at pulling the liner off the mud, but the towline parted under the unequal strain. The first, on 28th January in cabin main-deck 93, was extinguished by Southampton Fire Brigade and the second fire, just twenty-four hours later, was discovered in a C-deck cabin. In November 1942, the QUEEN ELIZABETH was involved in an incident that still remains the subject of much speculation. On 27th March 1955 the QUEEN ELIZABETH sailed down the Channel as far as the Lizard to test the new stabilisers. Maritime History Archive holds approximately 70% of the crew lists and agreements for 1951-1976, but the records have not yet been indexed so contact them directly for search advice. The first stop was at Trinidad where she rendezvoused with a tanker five miles off Port of Spain. This rake also gave the Elizabeth a longer overall length: 1,031 feet as against the 1,019 feet of the QUEEN MARY. 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