Queen Elizabeth 2
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The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) is a former British passenger ship . She was the flagship of the British shipping company Cunard Line for 35 years until she was replaced by the Queen Mary 2 in 2004. The home port of the QE2 was Southampton, England .
The Queen Elizabeth 2 has been a hotel ship in Rashid , the port of Dubai, since April 2018 .
history
The Queen Elizabeth 2 was, as has been the old Queen Elizabeth , at the shipyard John Brown & Company in Scotland Clydebank built. The keel was laid on July 5, 1965, the launch on September 20, 1967 and the first test run on November 26, 1968. She made her maiden voyage on May 2, 1969 from Southampton to New York .
In 1982 she took part in the Falklands War when she was requisitioned alongside other ships and served as a fast troop transport in the South Atlantic.
In 1987 the ship was rebuilt and overhauled in the Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven , the steam turbine was replaced by diesel engines from MAN .
In August 1992, her hull was severely damaged when she stumbled onto a rock twelve meters below ground near Cuttyhunk during a day trip from New York to Martha's Vineyard . The reason for the accident was that the squat (subsidence) was not taken into account by the ship's command and the water depth according to the map was already borderline.
In the early morning hours of September 11, 1995, on the way to New York, she was hit over the Newfoundland Bank by a 33-meter-high giant wave caused by Hurricane Luis, which had drawn unusually far into the North Atlantic . The ship was still fit to drive afterwards, but it was badly damaged.
The Queen Elizabeth 2 was released from the transatlantic liner service in 2004 after the Queen Mary 2 was put into service and has since been used all year round as a cruise ship worldwide. On June 18, 2007, the Cunard shipping company announced that it would sell the ship to Dubai at the end of 2008 for $ 100 million , where it should be based on the eastern edge of the Palm Islands as a museum (with land station), shopping center and hotel ship from spring 2009 . The Queen Elizabeth 2 continued to operate cruises until the end of November 2008 . On October 16, 2008, the Queen Elizabeth 2 last arrived in New York Harbor. Here was the end point of one of more than 800 Atlantic crossings. The ship's last voyage for a long time - New York - Dubai - began on November 11, 2008. On November 27, the Queen Elizabeth 2 arrived in Dubai, was flagged to the United Arab Emirates and at the outer pier of Port Rashid to be converted for her moored new use as a floating hotel.
The QE2 was actually supposed to be part of the major Palm Jumeirah project . This project was but during the economic crisis because of the enormously high costs that z. B. would have accrued for the dredging of the fairway for the ocean liner to the intended berth, given up again. As a result, the planned conversion of Queen Elizabeth 2 was not tackled.
In July 2012 it became known that the Queen Elizabeth 2 was to be converted into a 300-bed luxury hotel (ship). A large part of its original interior and the original art collection are to be preserved. The Queen Elizabeth 2 should then be right next to the current cruise terminal, which is being converted into a maritime museum. Museum and Queen Elizabeth 2 would then become the main attraction of the renewed cruise port.
In December 2012 and January 2013, there were reports that Southeast Asian finance house Oceanic Group was planning to rent the ship from Dubai World for an annual lease of £ 1 million, with an option to buy after ten years for £ 35 million. The ship was docked at Dubai Drydocks World for the work required to transfer the QE2 to Singapore . The company QE2 floating hotels was founded to operate as a hotel ship in Singapore . The operating costs amount to around 800,000 euros per month.
In 2013 the Chinese shipyard COSCO was to receive the order to convert the Queen Elizabeth 2 into a hotel ship. 900 cabins were to be converted into 400 suites with sizes from 60 to 150 square meters. The renovation, which also includes other redesigns, should be completed by 2015. In early 2015, however, the passenger ship was still moored at Dubai Drydocks World in Port Rashid.
On April 18, 2018, the Queen Elizabeth 2 opened as a luxury hotel in the port of Dubai. Previously, both the anchors and the propellers were removed. All cabins have been restored. The Queen Mary 2 was also present at the opening . A larger opening will follow in October 2018 [obsolete] .
background
Naming
The "2" in the name distinguishes her from the first ship of this name, the RMS Queen Elizabeth , which is named after Queen Elizabeth , the wife of King George VI. , was named. The Queen Elizabeth 2 was named after its predecessor, the Queen Elizabeth , and received a "2" to distinguish it from this. Queen Elizabeth II , who carried out the christening of the ship, said “ I name this ship Queen Elizabeth the Second ”, but Cunard uses the Arabic numerals to distinguish the ship from the Queen. This is a sensitive matter, as in tradition the name of British monarchs was only given to large ships in the Royal Navy .
equipment
The Queen Elizabeth 2 was considered the last large transatlantic liner until its successor was built and was the last oil-fired passenger steamship on a regular Atlantic line before it was converted to diesel propulsion .
After the ship was built, the propulsion system consisted of two Brown-Pametrada gearbox steam turbine sets with a total of 110,000 hp, which operated on twin screws. The steam was supplied by three boilers that used 520 tons of fuel a day.
Due to frequent turbine malfunctions (broken blades) and the inefficiency of the drive system, it was replaced by a diesel-electric drive in 1986 at the Lloyd shipyard in Bremerhaven . The drive now consists of two electric motors , each with 44 MW per screw. The drive and the entire ship are supplied by nine nine-cylinder, MAN -B & W four-stroke diesel engines , each with an output of 10,625 kW. Behind the two propellers, Grim idlers were placed to increase the overall efficiency . Idler wheels that were around 16% larger were used (DGL / D propeller = 6.70 m / 5.80 m = 1.16). Even during the test drives after the conversion, damage occurred due to broken idler blades, which led to the tests being aborted and later to the removal of the idlers.
commitment
During her service as the Cunard flagship she was mainly used as a transatlantic liner . In addition, cruises around the globe were also offered, mainly during the winter season. Most recently she operated exclusively as a cruise ship and only rarely sailed the transatlantic route in this role.
The Queen Elizabeth 2 was one of the fastest passenger ships. It is larger than the Titanic , but smaller than its predecessor Queen Elizabeth and its successor Queen Mary 2 so that it could sail through the Panama Canal . The Queen Elizabeth 2 had space for 1900 passengers and 1015 crew members, so a total of 2915 people. Five restaurants, two cafes, three swimming pools, a library, a hospital and a 481-seat cinema were housed on the ship. There was also a pub, night club and several bars, a casino, shopping promenade and a fitness center.
useful information
- On September 11, 1995, the Queen Elizabeth 2 survived an encounter with a monster wave on the way from Cherbourg to New York over the Newfoundland Bank . According to statements by the crew, which are supported by data from a Canadian weather buoy , this was a "three-sister" phenomenon with wave heights of 28 to 29 meters (according to other reports, one wave was 33 meters high) and one Period of 13 seconds. Captain Ronald Warwick described it as "a huge wall of water ... it looked like we were headed for the white cliffs of Dover."
- The Queen Elisabeth 2 was the only passenger ship in the world that was equipped with a small synagogue . The ship was sold completely including all furnishings, such as a functional kitchen, but also bar furnishings, paintings, dishes and the like. Alone, the synagogue was built before the handover to the new Arab owners and including the present there Tora - rolls passed and other sacred objects to the Jewish community in England.
- In 1980 the musician Mike Oldfield named his album QE2 after the ship.
- During the transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York from October 28 to November 4, 1994, the German marathon runner Friedhelm Weidemann was the first person ever to run a marathon during an ocean crossing on November 1. Weidemann completed the distance of 42.195 kilometers in 4:34 hours and thus secured an entry in the Guinness Book of Records .
- The American pensioner Beatrice Muller had her permanent residence in cabin 4068 on Queen Elizabeth 2 from 1999 to 2008 .
- The Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser died on February 19, 2000 on board the Queen Elizabeth 2 while crossing from his New Zealand adopted home to Europe.
- An Atlantic crossing to New York with the Queen Elizabeth 2 is the subject of the book Der Luxusliner by Lothar-Günther Buchheim .
- On January 13, 2008, the three famous luxury liners of the Cunard shipping company met. Queen Elizabeth 2 left New York Harbor at the same time as the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria . The meeting was accompanied by fireworks.
Web links
- Private website for Queen Elizabeth 2
- Website of the shipping company Cunard
- Website with short video clips about Queen Elizabeth 2
- [1]
- "Queen Elizabeth 2" becomes a hotel ship
- Queen Elizabeth 2: Hotel opening in Dubai
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ulrich Stock: The great piece of Bremerhaven. A ship is being rejuvenated: the renovation of the "Queen Elizabeth II" . In: Die Zeit , No. 15/1987
- ↑ Grounding of the Queen Elizabeth 2 . In: Hydro International , July / August 2009, Volume 13, number 6.
- ↑ Out of service - Dubai buys luxury liner “Queen Elizabeth 2”. Spiegel Online , June 18, 2007, accessed July 30, 2012 .
- ↑ "Queen Elizabeth 2" will be a hotel ship. Spiegel Online , July 4, 2012, accessed July 30, 2012 .
- ↑ Queen Elizabeth 2 becomes the hotel ship for Port Rashid. Cruisetricks.de, July 3, 2012, accessed July 30, 2012 .
- ↑ New future for Queen Elizabeth 2 · 44-year-old cruise liner is to serve as a hotel ship in Singapore . In: Daily port report from January 23, 2013, p. 15
- ↑ Queen Elizabeth 2 goes to Asia as a hotel ship , accessed on January 31, 2013
- ↑ Queen Elizabeth 2 is being converted into a hotel ship ( Memento from February 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Schiff-und-Kreuzfahrten.de , accessed on January 31, 2013
- ↑ Peter Kleinort: COSCO is converting the “QE2” into a hotel ship . In: Daily port report , October 23, 2013, p. 4
- ↑ Peter Kleinort: "Queen Elizabeth 2" is waiting to be rescued · Former cruiser lies at Dubai Drydocks · Usage concepts have failed so far · Transfer canceled . In: Daily port report , February 19, 2015, p. 4
- ↑ The Grim guide wheel - chronicle of an innovation . In: Hansa , Heft 7/2012, pp. 30–33.
- ↑ sea monsters there are: ESA radar satellites detect "rogue waves" , MaxWave project of ESA .
- ^ ZDF report Farewell to the Atlantic - The Last Voyage of Queen Elizabeth 2 ; sent u. a. on February 1, 2009 on ZDF dokukanal.
- ^ Matthias Streitz: Luxusliner instead of old people's home , Hamburger Abendblatt, September 11, 2001, accessed on October 19, 2016
- ↑ Photo gallery: Meeting of the three queens in New York . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , January 13, 2008