History
30 Dec 1964 | Contract signed with John Brown Shipyard of Clydebank. |
5 Jul 1965 | Keel laid. Assigned 'job number 736'. |
20 Sep 1967 | Launched by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Sound-byte: wav (278k) or au (50k) |
19 Nov 1968 | QE2 sets sail from the fitting out berth at John Brown's under the command of Captain 'Bil' Warwick. |
26 Nov 1968 | Start of preliminary trials in the Irish Sea. |
22 Apr 1969 | Mini maiden voyage to Las Palmas. |
2 May 1969 | Official maiden voyage to New York. |
8 Jan 1971 | Rescued passengers from Antilles, which had run aground. |
May 1972 | Ransome demand in mid-Atlantic. |
April 1974 | Lost propulsion 200 miles off Bermuda due to contaminated boilers. All 1,654 passengers taken off by tenders from Sea Venture. |
1975 | First World Cruise. |
May 1982 | QE2 requisitioned for Falklands War as a troop tansport. On 12 May 1982 she set sail for St Georgia with 3000 troops aboard. QE2 arrived safely back in Southampton on 11 June 1982. |
Oct 1986 | Work starts in Germany on the conversion from steam to diesel engines. |
1987 | QE2 wins The Queen's Award for Export Achievement. |
7 Aug 1992 | Hits uncharted rocks off Vineyard Sound. |
Dec 1994 | Extensive, much publicised refit. |
11 Sep 1995 | Encountered Hurricane Luis on a Westbound Atlantic crossing and got hit by a 95 foot wave. See Storm Certificate |
2 Jan 1996 | QE2 logged 4 millions miles |
1996 | Following the sale of Trafalgar House to Kvaerner, Cunard Line ownership is transferred to the Norwegian construction company. |
May 1998 | Kvaerner sell Cunard Line to the American owned Carnival Corporation. |
4 Oct 2001 | Captain R W Warwick performed the wedding ceremony of his daughter Rebecca on-board QE2 in Boston. See Article by Captain Warwick |
29 Aug 2002 | QE2 logged 5 millions miles at sea. |
Apr 2004 | QE2 completed a tandem crossing of the Atlantic with the new QM2. |
27 Nov 2008 | QE2 is officially handed over from Cunard to new owners Nakheel and birthed permanently in Dubai. |
18 Apr 2018 | QE2 finally opens as a hotel. |