Before the Restoration:
This restored image is a look down the starboard boat deck toward the bow of the Cunard Line’s QUEEN ELIZABETH while at sea in 1961.
The 1031 ft. ship, launched in 1938, was not completed before the outbreak of WWII & she was taken by the British Ministry of War Transport along with her near-sister QUEEN MARY for troopship duties, during which she performed well, traveling more than 550,000 miles carrying over 750,000 troops.
In 1946, she was returned to Cunard & refitted.
She made her much-delayed maiden passenger voyage on October 16, 1946.
The ship continued in passenger service until 1968 when the decision was made by Cunard to sell the venerable Queen.
The ship was sold to a group of businessmen intent on making her into a hotel & tourist attraction in Port Everglades, Florida. This venture did not pan out well however & the ship was again sold in 1970 to CY Tung, a Hong Kong tycoon who laid out plans to convert the ship into a floating university.
In 1971, the ship was renamed SEAWISE UNIVERSITY & anchored in the Hong Kong harbor as work was commenced on her conversion. As she was nearing completion, a series of massive arson-set fires broke out on the night of January 9, 1972, rapidly consuming the vessel. Despite the attempts by fireboats, the ship burned so hot that the bridge & forward superstructure collapsed inside the ship & the vessel heeled over to starboard.
The ship was declared a total loss and the burned-out wreckage was cut up for scrap in 1974-5. Only the keel & the boilers remained on the bottom after demolition & that was later blown up as a hazard to navigation.
The harbor area where the ship settled was later filled in & the venerable ship’s gravesite is partially the current site of a Container Terminal (T9) in the Rambler Channel.
Yesterdays Trails 