The Queen Elizabeth 2 - how big is she, who made and who owns her and what is her history so far?
Q. What are the dimensions of the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2)?
The QE2's length is 963 ft (293.5m), and her beam is 105 ft (32m). Her gross tonnage was registered as 65,863 tons and she could carry 2000 passengers. The original engines were steam turbines, producing 110,000 shaft horse power to drive two screw propellers.
A major refit in 1987 updated her accommodation and converted her to diesel electric power with nine oil fired engines driving two giant electric motors each of 59,000 shaft horse power.
Q. Who built the QE2 and who owns her?
The QE2 was built by John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland for the Cunard Line, Southampton. The ship was launched on 20 September 1967 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Her maiden voyage in December 1968 was cut short by turbine trouble and she completed her full maiden voyage in May 1969, travelling between Southampton and New York.
Q. What is the history of the QE2 so far?
As of 2002, the QE2 has travelled more than 4,000,000 miles and carried more than 2,000,000 passengers. She is the only liner regularly making the transatlantic crossing to New York for about eight months of the year, carrying out other holiday cruises and special charters for the remainder.
In April 1982, the QE2 was briefly requisitioned as a troopship to take servicemen and women to the Falkland Islands during the war with Argentina.
In 1990, the ship crossed the Atlantic from east to west in 105 hours 57 minutes to mark Cunard's 150th anniversary.
The QE2 cost £30 million to build and has cost at least ten times that figure to run since she entered service.