27 September: Launch of The Queen Elizabeth

On this date in 1938 The Queen Elizabeth, the biggest ocean liner of her time was launched.

1. She was named on her launch after Queen Elizabeth, who was Queen Consort to King George VI and who in 1952 became the Queen Mother.
2. The ship's vital statistics: Tonnage: 83,673 gross tons; Length:1,031 ft (314.2 m); Height: 233 ft (71.0 m); Beam (width): 118 ft (36.0 m); Capacity: 2,283 passengers and over 1,000 crew. she was the largest passenger liner ever built at that time and for fifty-six years thereafter. She still has the distinction of being the largest-ever riveted ship by gross tonnage.
3. Queen Elizabeth was built on slipway four at John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland, and during construction was known as Hull 552.
4. Her maiden voyage was delayed by the start of World War II, and when it finally happened in March 1940, the whole event was shrouded in secrecy to trick the Germans. The Germans would have known that there were only two spring tides that year which would allow a water level high enough for the ship to get out of the dockyard. An elaborate ruse was fabricated whereby it was arranged for her to sail to Southampton to be fitted out. A minimal crew was engaged, including a Southampton harbour pilot, parts were shipped to Southampton, where a dry dock was prepared, and the crew were all booked into hotels there. Once out of dock, a King's Messenger met the ship and handed the captain sealed orders. They were to proceed to New York, despite final seaworthiness trials not having been completed. They were not to stop and were to maintain radio silence. The Southampton pilot wasn't to be dropped off - it's not known if he'd been told to pack a toothbrush! The authorities were right to keep it all secret. Later that day at the time when she was due to arrive at Southampton, the city was bombed by the Luftwaffe. The Germans really did have it in for the ship.
5. Six days later, the Queen Elizabeth arrived safely in New York having successfully evaded German U-boats, and was moored alongside both Queen Mary and the French Line's Normandie. This would be the only time all three of the world's largest liners would be berthed together.
6. From New York, she sailed to Singapore to be converted into a troop ship. She was fitted with anti-aircraft guns, and her hull repainted black, although her superstructure remained Grey.
7. Both the Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship, the Queen Mary, were used as troop ships during the second world war. Their high speeds allowed them to outrun German U-boats, so they could travel without a convoy. During her time as a troopship Queen Elizabeth carried more than 750,000 troops, and she also sailed some 500,000 miles (800,000 km).
8. After the war, the ship was converted back into an ocean liner, and finally it was possible to carry out the seaworthiness trials on a journey to the Isle of Arran. Onboard was the ship's namesake Queen Elizabeth and her two daughters, the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. During the trials, Commodore Sir James Bisset was ably assisted by three important passengers. The ship's namesake her majesty Queen Elizabeth took the wheel for a brief time and her daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, recorded the two measured runs with stopwatches that they had been given for the occasion.
9. Despite similar specifications to Queen Mary, Elizabeth never held the Blue Riband, as Cunard White Star chairman Sir Percy Bates requested that the two ships not try to compete against one another.
10. Sadly, the Queen Elizabeth came to a rather ignominious end. Cunard retired both ships by 1969 when competition from airlines led to a fall in passenger numbers, and replaced them with a single, smaller ship, the Queen Elizabeth 2. The original Queen Elizabeth was intended to become a floating university in Hong Kong but was destroyed by a fire and capsized. She was now a shipping hazard and was mostly scrapped. Portions of the hull, the keel and boilers remained at the bottom of Victoria harbour and it is estimated that around 40–50% of the wreck was still on the seabed. In the late 1990s, the final remains of the wreck were buried during land reclamation for the construction of Container Terminal 9.