Queen Elezabeth 2 11 November 2008 on her way to her new home in Dubai
After almost 41 years of service, QE2 left Southampton for the last time on the evening of 11 November 2008 on her way to her new home in Dubai where she will be transformed into a five-star luxury floating hotel. The ship is still the fastest passenger liner afloat. It remains the longest-serving Cunarder and continues to dismiss unfriendly weather with greater élan than almost any other ship. It boasts one of the most extensive and best-run libraries afloat. It is still loved by passengers and crew alike. Every arrival and departure still draws a crowd. And - as the phalanx of white-gloved stewards who appear at precisely 4pm to serve afternoon tea testifies - it is still run with metronomic precision. RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, or simply the QE2, is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth, which in turn was named after Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen consort of George VI. She was the flagship of the line from 1969 until succeeded by RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004. Built in Clydebank, Scotland, she was considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners prior to the construction of the QM2. Before she was refitted with a diesel power plant in 1986, she was also the last oil-fired passenger steamship to cross the Atlantic in scheduled liner service. During almost 40 years of service, the QE2 has travelled the world and now operates predominantly as a cruise ship, sailing out of Southampton, England. She will be retired from active service in December 2008, to become a floating hotel at Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.[2] Her last departure from her home port of Southampton took place on the 11 November.[3] The Queen Elizabeth 2 was built by the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders in the John Brown Shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland. Her keel was laid down on 5 July 1965, as hull number 736, and was launched and named on 20 September 1967 by Queen Elizabeth II
Size: 3543px × 5315px
Location: Southampton Docks, Hampshire UK
Photo credit: © Ivor Toms / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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