QUEEN ELIZABETH 2
January 23, 2006 | Berth 93, Los Angeles, California
Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 arrived in Los Angeles on January 23, 2006, during her annual World Cruise. Illuminated at Berth 93 that evening, the legendary ocean liner was nearly 37 years into her Cunard career and less than three years from retirement, yet still making long-distance voyages around the world.
Few passenger ships became as closely associated with modern ocean travel as Queen Elizabeth 2. Better known around the world as QE2, she entered service for Cunard in 1969 at a time when jet aircraft had already transformed transatlantic transportation and many traditional passenger liners were disappearing. Cunard designed QE2 to meet that changing market: she had the strength, speed, and seagoing qualities required for scheduled North Atlantic crossings, while her size and passenger facilities allowed her to operate cruises and increasingly ambitious voyages around the world. That versatility helped keep her in active service for nearly four decades.
By the time of this Los Angeles visit in January 2006, QE2 had already completed nearly 37 years of passenger service, numerous World Cruises, wartime service, and one of the most significant propulsion conversions ever undertaken on a major passenger liner.
Information List
Name: Queen Elizabeth 2
Common Name: QE2
Operator During This Visit: Cunard
Ship Type: Ocean liner and cruise ship
Shipyard: John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland
Yard Number: 736
Keel Laid: July 5, 1965
Launched: September 20, 1967
Maiden Transatlantic Voyage: May 2, 1969, Southampton to New York
Cunard Service: 1969–2008
Length: Approximately 963 feet
Beam: Approximately 105 feet
Draft: Approximately 32 feet
Gross Tonnage: 70,327 GT in her later career
Passenger Decks: 12
Maximum Passenger Capacity: 1,777
Standard Crew Capacity: Approximately 1,040
Propulsion During This Visit: Diesel-electric machinery driving two propellers
Port of Registry During Cunard Service: Southampton, United Kingdom
Visit Shown: January 23, 2006, during her World Cruise
Location: Berth 93, Los Angeles Harbor
Current Status: Permanently moored hotel and heritage attraction at Port Rashid, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
History and Features
Construction and Entry Into Service:
Cunard commissioned QE2 during a period of dramatic change in transatlantic transportation, when increasing competition from jet aircraft was making the operation of traditional passenger liners increasingly difficult.
The ship was designed to combine scheduled North Atlantic liner service with cruising, giving Cunard greater flexibility than its earlier generations of express liners.
Construction took place at John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland, the shipyard that had also built Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.
Her keel was laid on July 5, 1965, and she was known during construction as yard number 736.
Queen Elizabeth II launched the ship on September 20, 1967. Cunard ultimately adopted the Arabic numeral “2” in her name, distinguishing Queen Elizabeth 2 from the monarch.
Following fitting out, trials, and delays associated with her original turbine machinery, QE2 entered Cunard service and departed Southampton on her maiden transatlantic voyage to New York on May 2, 1969.
Design and Features:
QE2 was built as a genuine ocean liner capable of maintaining scheduled service across the North Atlantic while also adapting to worldwide cruising.
Her hull, machinery, and speed were developed for demanding ocean service rather than solely for cruise itineraries.
Her dimensions allowed her to transit the Panama Canal, an important advantage as Cunard expanded her use on worldwide itineraries.
The ship’s long bow, tiered superstructure, and single funnel produced a profile that remained recognizable despite numerous alterations during her career.
Passenger spaces included dining rooms, lounges, a ballroom, library, cinema, and extensive open decks suited to both Atlantic crossings and longer cruises.
Repeated refits changed her interiors and passenger facilities over the decades, allowing QE2 to remain competitive while retaining her identity as an ocean liner.
Service:
QE2 maintained Cunard’s scheduled transatlantic service between Europe and North America while also operating cruises from Southampton, New York, and other ports.
Her first World Cruise took place in 1975, beginning an annual tradition that became increasingly important during the later decades of her career.
In January 1971, QE2 responded after the French liner Antilles ran aground and caught fire near Mustique. Survivors were later brought aboard QE2 and transported to Barbados.
In 1982, the British government requisitioned QE2 for service as a troop transport during the Falklands War. She carried approximately 3,000 troops south before returning to Britain and being restored to passenger service. Cunard likewise records her 1982 deployment with 3,000 troops.
The arrival of Queen Mary 2 in 2004 began a new chapter for Cunard. QE2 and her successor made a tandem Atlantic crossing that April, symbolically linking two generations of Cunard ocean liners.
During her 39-year Cunard career, QE2 sailed more than five million miles.
The 1986–1987 Conversion:
One of the most important changes in QE2’s career came during a major refit at Bremerhaven in 1986–1987.
Her original steam turbine machinery was removed and replaced with a diesel-electric propulsion system.
Nine MAN B&W diesel engines generated electricity for both propulsion and the ship’s onboard systems.
The conversion substantially improved efficiency and helped extend QE2’s operational life for another two decades.
The work also demonstrated Cunard’s commitment to maintaining the liner at a time when very few traditional passenger ships from her generation remained in service.
Los Angeles and the 2006 World Cruise:
QE2 arrived at Los Angeles on January 23, 2006, during her annual World Cruise.
The ship had departed New York on January 9 and traveled south through the Caribbean before transiting the Panama Canal and continuing north along the Pacific coast toward Southern California.
Her itinerary included Fort Lauderdale, Willemstad in Curaçao, Fuerte Amador in Panama, and Acapulco before reaching Los Angeles.
QE2 berthed at the World Cruise Center at Berth 93 in San Pedro, where the ship was illuminated against the harbor after dark.
The call came during the final years of QE2’s active career, when World Cruises had become an important part of her annual schedule.
She continued west from Los Angeles on January 24, beginning the Pacific portion of the World Cruise, with Honolulu scheduled as her next port of call on January 27.
Retirement and Preservation:
QE2 remained in Cunard service until 2008, completing her final Cunard voyage that November before sailing to Dubai.
Her retirement ended a Cunard career spanning nearly four decades and more than 1,000 voyages.
Plans for the ship changed several times following her arrival in Dubai, delaying her conversion to a permanent visitor attraction.
After restoration and conversion work, the QE2 hotel opened to the public on April 18, 2018.
Permanently moored at Port Rashid, the preserved ship now operates as a hotel and heritage attraction, allowing visitors to experience surviving spaces aboard one of the most famous passenger ships of the twentieth century.
Legacy:
QE2 helped sustain the tradition of scheduled transatlantic passenger travel through decades when most of the great ocean liners disappeared from service.
Her dual-purpose design demonstrated how a purpose-built ocean liner could adapt to a changing travel industry by combining Atlantic crossings with worldwide cruising.
Her history encompasses royal connections, World Cruises, military service, major engineering changes, and nearly four decades of passenger voyages.
Her long career bridged two very different eras of Cunard history, beginning only two years after the retirement of Queen Mary and continuing into the era of Queen Mary 2.
Her preservation in Dubai ensures that a major part of late twentieth-century ocean liner history survives beyond her active career.
