HISTORIC CRUISING


The original Queen Elizabeth in 1940...


reflects on some of the differences between the


recently-introduced Queen Elizabeth and the famous liner of the 1940s


A tale of two Lizzies O


Peter Newall


n October 11, 2010, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth formally named Cunard Line’s latest ship, Queen Elizabeth. Seventy-two years earlier,


as a young princess, she had accompanied her mother Queen Elizabeth to Clydebank for the launch of the original ship to bear that name. When she was completed in 1940, this remark-


able vessel was the largest ship in the world and her record size as a passenger ship remained unchallenged for 56 years. She was also a symbol of the best of British engineering and progress. The new Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, was built in Italy and, although registered at Southampton, is owned by the Miami- based Carnival Corporation. While the new version was finished in less than a year, the original ship took more than three years from keel-laying to completion. The main reason for this difference is the Italian- built ship had most of her sections built separately and then assembled in the shipyard. She is actu-


ally the 11th in the 52 WORLD OF CRUISING I Spring 2011


Vista-class of standard hull-types built for Carnival’s major subsidiary lines of Holland America, Costa, P&O Cruises and Cunard. Although the running mate to Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth was a one- off. She had two funnels instead of three, which gave her passengers considerably more deck space. She was also longer and had a more streamlined


and better-balanced profile than the rather old- fashioned Mary. Because she ran year-round on the north Atlantic, most of the passenger accom- modation was enclosed, while the new Elizabeth has deck after deck of veranda-cabins reflecting her role as a world-wide cruise ship. Interestingly the dimensions of the two are ex- tremely similar. Although the older ship was longer and wider, she had a deeper draft, fewer passenger decks and a lower gross tonnage. With motors driv- ing the Azipod propellers on the outside of the ship, the modern vessel has a much smaller engine room whereas the engine


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92