QE2 Facts

Queen Elizabeth 2 in Auckland 2003

General Information

  • Name: Queen Elizabeth 2.
  • Gross Tonnage (As built) : 65 863 tons.
  • Gross Tonnage (1994 – ) : 70 327 tons.
  • Decks: 12 passenger decks.
  • Length: 963 feet.
  • Width: 105 feet, 2 inches.
  • Builders: John Brown (later Upper Clyde).
  • Keel Laid: 5th July, 1965.
  • Launched : 20th September, 1967.
  • Launched By: HM Queen Elizabeth II.
  • Maiden Voyage: Dep. 2nd May, 1969.
  • Final Cunard Voyage: Dep. 11 Nov, 2008.
  • Maximum Passenger Capacity: 1,777 persons.
  • Standard Crew Capacity: 1,040 persons.
  • Port of Registry (Cunard): Southampton, UK.
  • Port of Registry (Istithmar): Port Vila, Vanuatu.
  • Official Number (Cunard): 336703
  • Signal Letters (Cunard): G.B.T.T.
  • Fastest Passenger Ship (in service): 1969 – 2008.
  • Maximum Speed Achieved: 34 knots.

Engine Room (1987-2008)

  • Diesel Engines: 9 x 9 Cylinder (Turbo-Charged) Diesel.
  • Diesel Builders: MAN B&W, Augsburg, West Germany.
  • Electric Motors: 2 x 350 tons, one on each propeller shaft.
  • Fuel consumption: 18.05 tons per hour on 9 diesels.
  • Boilers: 9x Exhaust Gas. 2x Oil Fired.
  • Output at Propellers: 2 x 44 MW.
  • Propellers: 2x outward turning LIPS Controllable Pitch.
  • Bow thrusters: 2 stone kamewa, 1000 h.p. per unit.
  • Stabilisers: 4 Denny Brown.
  • Rudder weight: 80 tons.
  • Forward Anchors : 2 at 12 1/2 tons.
  • Cables: 2 at 4″ x 12 shackles.
  • Aft Anchor: 1 at 7 1/4 tons.
  • Cables: 1 at 3″ x 8 shackles.

Engine Room (1968-1986)

  • 3 × Foster Wheeler ESD II Boilers.
  • 2x Brown-Pametrada Steam Turbines.
  • 1x clean steam boiler to supply steam to the steamers in the kitchens.
  • 2x six bladed propellers.
  • Bow thrusters: 2 stone kamewa, 1000 h.p. per unit.
  • Stabilisers: 4 Denny Brown.
  • Rudder weight: 80 tons.
  • Forward Anchors : 2 at 12 1/2 tons.
  • Cables: 2 at 4″ x 12 shackles.
  • Aft Anchor: 1 at 7 1/4 tons.
  • Cables: 1 at 3″ x 8 shackles.

Some fun QE2 Facts

  • The Atlantic service speed of QE2 is 28.5 knots, with a top cruising speed of 32.5 knots.
  • QE2 is the fastest passenger ship to sail in the 21st century.
  • Top recorded speed of QE2 was 34 knots during her 1987 sea trials.
  • In 2008, QE2 was sold for $100 million to Istithmar, the investment arm of Dubai World.
  • Queen Elizabeth 2’s launch was celebrated with a public holiday in many countries of the Commonwealth.
  • QE2 was the longest serving flagship of the Cunard Line and the longest serving Cunard Ocean Liner.
  • QE2 had 20 lifeboats and 54 life rafts.
  • QE2 is the last Atlantic Ocean Liner to be built in the United Kingdom.
  • She made 806 transatlantic Crossings.
  • She sailed 5.6 million miles – the furthest distance by any ship, ever!
  • She carried 2.5 million passengers in Cunard service.
  • Queen Elizabeth 2’s anchors weigh 12.5 tons each and there are three of them – 2 forward and 1 aft.

Image: QE2 in Auckland during a World Cruise. Frame & Cross.