Making waves: New berth

On second thoughts

Have you ever thought about why the ship is called Queen Elizabeth 2, not the Second? Well, the answer is simple. The QE2 was not named after Queen Elizabeth II, but after the previous Queen Elizabeth. And that’s precisely why instead of Roman numerals – always used for British monarchs – the Arabic numeral ‘2’ has been used in the ship’s name. Yet for all the trouble, the Queen referred to it it as Queen Elizabeth the Second for many days.

Interestingly, she used the same pair of gold scissors to launch the QE2, which her mother and grandmother used to launch the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary respectively.

Juggernaut Role

A bomb disposal team had to be parachuted into the sea near the ship following a bomb threat in 1972. No bomb was found, but the incident went on to inspire the famous 1974 Richard Lester movie Juggernaut. The bomb hoax was played by a New York shoe salesman.

Blacked out

At the height of the Falklands War in 1982, the ship transported 3,000 British troops and 650 volunteer crew members to the south Atlantic. In order to avoid detection, the ship was blacked out and its radar switched off, leaving it to steam ahead` without modern aids.

Red head

A BBC report says that the ship’s new owners in Dubai will slice off the giant red funnel, placing it on the waterfront as an entrance to the ship. In its place will be a four-deck smoked glass penthouse in the shape of the funnel but with a swimming pool.

Torpedo threat

On July 16, 1974, the then Egyptian President Anwar Sadat stunned the world when he revealed in a television interview that Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi had ordered an Egyptian submarine to torpedo the QE2. Sadat said he had personally countermanded the order.

The luxury within

The only ship to be awarded five stars for its accommodation by the RAC, the vessel has the largest library on the seas, with over 6,000 titles on board.

The QE2 is also a treasure trove of some exquisite and rare pieces of art. At the end of her 2005 world cruise, however, certain pieces of her artwork were damaged by some inebriated crew members. A unique tapestry of Queen Elizabeth II was thrown overboard. The crew members involved on board were dismissed from service.

Staggering consumption

The amount of fruit juice consumed on board the QE2 annually would fill the ship’s swimming pools nearly eight times over. Around 2,500 tea bags are consumed on the ship each day, which is what an average tea drinking family consumes in a year.