I served for a while in 1964, engine room. I was 18. Never forget the day I walked the gangplank into the interior, every step was full of surprises, especially for a 18 year old that had never left home 😳 You had to see it to believe it. Memories that I’ll never forget. Thanks for the sharing the memories 🤝
I saw both Queen Elizabeth and QE2 while they were in the dry dock in Greenock....they were huge...just to stand on the hill on my way to the Gibby and look down on them has stayed in my memories for a few decades
wow.........that was incredible. My parents sailed on her westbound in June 1952. I had an opportunity to visit the ship in February 1965 to see family off on a short cruise.
It's a shame her life ended the way it did. If the fire really was a sabotage, I hope the guy was caught. If it were Tung's son, all I have to say is this. You can be jealous of what your father decided to do with the money that you felt was yours. Remember that it was his money first: you have no place to destroy his work. Speaking of which, I feel really bad for Tung: the feeling of all your hard work going down the drain is never a good one. At least the Mary is still around. R.I.P. Queen Elizabeth. This video was a masterpiece once again, OWS.
I have often felt that Mr Tung set his own ship on fire in order to collect the insurance money. Of cause I have no evidence for this, but it just reminds me the insurance made on the World Trade Centre and the surrounding builds before the tterrorist attacks took place.
Thank you for this. She was one of the brightest shining stars of the Atlantic and the status of her final disposition has long been overshadowed by her older sister, the Mary. Your efforts here are much appreciated!
In early February 1972, I was stationed aboard the U.S Chicago CG 11. As we came into Hong Kong harbor for R & R we all saw her burnt on her side. A few days later a pal and I took a water taxi out to film her, and yes back then we had Super 8 mm cameras. I now live in Huntington Beach California which is 10 south of Long Beach Ca where sister ship Queen Mary is docked. I have seen them both and have never been to England.
Do you still have your movies? In 1962 an old friend's parents went to england on the Queen Elizabeth. He took some great movies of the ship in NY harbor and leaving for the trip.
OlympicWS, to say that I'm impressed by this documentary about the Queen Elizabeth/Seawise University would be an understatement. I've been an ocean liner enthusiast for decades and have shelves of books about ocean liners but there is so much here that is new to me. I wasn't interested in ocean liners when the S.U. was lost (I was 10 years old) but I do remember a picture in the newspaper of the partially sunk and burned out liner and the caption "Death of an Ocean Queen". It's interesting to speculate on what would have happened if the Seawise University had gone into service. Because of the maintenance needs for so large and old a ship; the huge increase in fuel costs that would occur the next year; the number of passengers needed to make the ship profitable I suspect the Seawise University would not have had a long career and would have been scrapped. Turned into a hotel? Maybe for a while though the Queen Mary has been a money pit for decades. Too there's the element of whether C.Y. Tung was operating the ship for-profit or simply as project he enjoyed with cost being secondary. I was given a book about the Queen Elizabeth that was signed by Commodore Marr on the liner's final voyage as the Queen Elizabeth. I think the book must have been aboard the ship at the time some of the footage here was made. Along with being an ocean liner enthusiast I also like pens. A few years after the Seawise University was destroyed, the Parker pen company made a limited edition of fountain pens made from the brass and glass that had melted together on the bridge of the ship. I don't own one of those pens but would certainly like to see one. I can only imagine the work and time and research that went into making this video. Thank you, OlympicWS! It was all worth it!
Thank you so much Andrew! I would like that pen to the collection. I have a lock mechanism from Queen Elizabeth and many other things. I fell in love with her. She was an amazing and magnificent ship with a tragic end. Sadly, her last remains are buried under the concrete of the Container Terminal 9
When the Queen Mother found out that her namesake ship was to be retired, she requested one more visit to the ship she launched. The Royal visit did happen and it was said that the dockside (starboard) side of the ship was cleaned and spruced up for her to see. On this video this is evident....but look at the Port side of the ship.....very rusty and work stained!!!!! A nice touch by Cunard.
Brilliant documentary……thank you. I did my first trip as Purser’s Clerk on QE in 1963. I lived onboard for a brief period in Ft Lauderdale in 1969, and did my last trip in 2006 on QM2 as Cruise Director. Got a few memories of the period in between.
It's a shame that QUEEN ELIZABETH couldn't have been docked in New York as a hotel ship instead! Hurricanes tend to be reduced to strong thunderstorms by the time they reach up north! The Everglades is a Red Zone for hurricane season! I'm surprised they even thought putting it there was a good idea!
My mom got to go to a school dance on her when she was in Port Everglades. Doesn't recall too much except that they were only allowed in the space where the dance was being held and a bit of the deck outside, the rest of the ship was roped off for the night.
Yes, it was the Queen Elizabeth. She said she mostly took tickets and minded the door for gate crashers, but she said she enjoyed the sea air on deck while she was there.
Afraid not, sorry. It wasn't the sort of thing where pictures were taken, and it wasn't like today where everyone has a rather good camera in their pockets. I've a few bits and bobs off the Queens, and a few other liners too, but they were acquired long after my mom's visit. She didn't make a lot of fuss over it then or now, to her it was a big ship with red stacks and not much else, though she did say it looked nice lit up as the dance was in the evening. She can recall the lights in the portholes reflecting off the water in the dock where it was berthed, and she said it struck her just how big it was standing quayside waiting to go onboard. For the longest time she thought it was the Queen Mary, I had to do some digging to find it was actually the Elizabeth instead.
What a magnificent ship, the largest ocean liner in the world, a war hero , a legend, absolute tragedy and I think the fire was arson for sure, I mean multiple fires, the length of the ship, something doesn't add up and I have never heard of any serious investigations into this crime and I wonder if insurance was claimed, makes me sick that we, in the western world didn't have enough gratitude for the service of this ship and the many lives she protected during the war years, let alone the fact that she and her sister shortened the war by at least one year, we should have preserved her as a memorial ourselves and paid for it by subscription and volunteers, of which there would have been many, same for the Mauritania.
This is so sad. She was the creme del la creme of all ocean liners and suffered such a humiliating demise. I wish she would have been purchased and operated by more competent people. I could picture her here at dock on the west side of Manhattan as a hotel, museum and restaurant. She had the glamour and the looks to attract throngs of customers and tourists.
Such a waste of a grand ship. I bet she would have taken the Blue Ribband from the QM if given the chance. If only better care and planning were taken when she was docked in Port Everglades, she might have made money and still been around today.
qe with engineering improvements, streamlined upper decks, much newer hull design was certainly faster. the spartan crew, light fuel and ballast, some favorable currents enabled her to go way over 32 kn for a stretch. never revield though, because of a marketing ploy.
@Ol Rusty’s Gameplay lounge my information about qe1 secret voyage speed is from several books, some of skeloton crew swore she hit 39 knots for a short time. anyway cunard did not want the qm1 to loose bookings, so they kept quiet to market mary as faster, elizabeth the largest.
The SS Normandie would have been the other major liner from the first half of the 1900s worth salvaging. By contrast, QE's successor, the QE2 (from the late 1960s) is now in Dubai, & its history & qualities (closer to those of the era of disco & polyester than that of the Titanic) lose something in translation. The SS Rotterdam, built in the 1950s, is another former ship that's now stationary, moored in Rotterdam. The SSR also has a different type of gravitas from its predecessors. Meanwhile, the SS United States (circa 1950s) sits gutted & in an almost abandoned state off Philadelphia's waterfront.
As a nipper I was fortunate enough to see the Lizzie leave Ocean Terminal in Southampton on numerous occasions as it set off for New York. A lovely ship, nicer than the Mary to look at. Shame it succumb to arson, it should have been cut for razor blades in Scotland after it retired. She served her country and Cunard well, as did the Mary.
A clear example of how not to treat a Lady.. I have a strong sense of fear and dread for her older sister in Long Beach will share a similar fate due to neglect.
Very good work though. Not the best Idea of Cunard White Star Line Limited to sell the QE to a private company. When they should have just sailed to her home port and Just put her as a Floating Museum and hotel there. The Queen Mary is safe in Long Beach but it was the same reason Cunard should have kept QE2 as well when they sold her off in 2008 they should have kept these liners and dock them so they can become museums. Selling the QE to China was a shot in the foot!
hi, if the clowns at cunard had kept the ship in england this would not have happened, it could have been a floating hotel. even in 1936 there was clown activity when the Olympic was scrapped, what were they thinking ? laurel and hardy
*Victoria Harbor...9th January, 1972. Several fires broke out, almost simultaneously.* Well, that's an old story were I come from, we like to call: the insurance game. 😂😂🤝😳😟 ☀️😎🇺🇸☀️ That's a real shame, especially when there's actually been talk of a scheme here in the States, and elsewhere among very wealthy people to avoid being a citizen who must pay taxes, to become the residents of an ever traveling ship, that simply continuously moves from one port city to another all around the world. There are still people who talk of building the largest ship ever constructed for this purpose. This ship seems like it would have been a good candidate for that idea. Well, there is still the USS United States sitting in a harbor here, just rotting away. It's much newer than the QE, and could still be saved. ☀️😎🇺🇸☀️
I am legitimately sad due to the end of the worlds biggest liner. if the fire wasn’t made by the reckless people Queen Elizabeth would make it through and maybe bought from long beach
I served for a while in 1964, engine room. I was 18. Never forget the day I walked the gangplank into the interior, every step was full of surprises, especially for a 18 year old that had never left home 😳 You had to see it to believe it. Memories that I’ll never forget. Thanks for the sharing the memories 🤝
very cool! do you have any pictures?
@@OceanLinersfan unfortunately no, oh for an iPhone in those days.
I would like someone to describe in detail how to get that massive ship underway from cold to cruising speed of 28 knots
I saw both Queen Elizabeth and QE2 while they were in the dry dock in Greenock....they were huge...just to stand on the hill on my way to the Gibby and look down on them has stayed in my memories for a few decades
How awesome that must have been. Did you ever sail on them?
How did you enjoy it? ☆
Pretty good
If you could save at least 5 liners which would they be
@@theautisticblackpiller7117 Oceanic II, Mauretania, Olympic, Conte di Savoia, Normandie
@@jec1ny Good ideas! But.. unfortunately, I will never make Normandie.
My dad took me onboard QE in Ft Lauderdale in 1969. I kept asking him 'Is she as big as Titanic?". I was 7 years old.
Much bigger! :-) I hope you took lots of pictures.
Did you go aboard? My cousin saw the QE in 1969 as well
wow.........that was incredible. My parents sailed on her westbound in June 1952.
I had an opportunity to visit the ship in February 1965 to see family off on a short cruise.
There's a great video on You Tube depicting a voyage on the Queen Elizabeth in the mid 50s.
She had such clean lines compared to her older sister!
It's a shame her life ended the way it did. If the fire really was a sabotage, I hope the guy was caught. If it were Tung's son, all I have to say is this. You can be jealous of what your father decided to do with the money that you felt was yours. Remember that it was his money first: you have no place to destroy his work. Speaking of which, I feel really bad for Tung: the feeling of all your hard work going down the drain is never a good one. At least the Mary is still around. R.I.P. Queen Elizabeth. This video was a masterpiece once again, OWS.
I don't think Mary will be around for long, sadly. But I will keep praying.
I have often felt that Mr Tung set his own ship on fire in order to collect the insurance money. Of cause I have no evidence for this, but it just reminds me the insurance made on the World Trade Centre and the surrounding builds before the tterrorist attacks took place.
Thank you for this. She was one of the brightest shining stars of the Atlantic and the status of her final disposition has long been overshadowed by her older sister, the Mary. Your efforts here are much appreciated!
Alexander He was renamed the "Seawise University" But then He sank
Despite of her age, I still remember that majestic sight when she entered HK harbour in 1971 & that subsequent terrible fire!
What would it look like if Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were together in long Beach what would that look of two majestic sisters
look up Yumione Skybedz' video:
"What if Seawise University never sank?"
That’s a marvelous thought.... if only. 💔
Sadly, the already tight budget would likely be split between both ships, meaning they’d both rot faster D;
awsome fantastic job olympicWS on my 6th fav ship i owe you one
The Queen Elizabeth was even larger and more beautiful than her sister! So sad she didn't survive !
I'm so thankful I got to see her up close in Port Everglades in 1970 many times. Once you've seen her she's unforgettable.
That’s very cool that to see here in port Everglades
In early February 1972, I was stationed aboard the U.S Chicago CG 11. As we came into Hong Kong harbor for R & R we all saw her burnt on her side. A few days later a pal and I took a water taxi out to film her, and yes back then we had Super 8 mm cameras. I now live in Huntington Beach California which is 10 south of Long Beach Ca where sister ship Queen Mary is docked. I have seen them both and have never been to England.
Do you still have your movies? In 1962 an old friend's parents went to england on the Queen Elizabeth. He took some great movies of the ship in NY harbor and leaving for the trip.
Mary lucked out!
I'm in HB, CA
@@1940limited Sorry they were lost.
@@hapycamp7 BEACH AND ELLIS SINCE 1980
OlympicWS, to say that I'm impressed by this documentary about the Queen Elizabeth/Seawise University would be an understatement. I've been an ocean liner enthusiast for decades and have shelves of books about ocean liners but there is so much here that is new to me. I wasn't interested in ocean liners when the S.U. was lost (I was 10 years old) but I do remember a picture in the newspaper of the partially sunk and burned out liner and the caption "Death of an Ocean Queen".
It's interesting to speculate on what would have happened if the Seawise University had gone into service. Because of the maintenance needs for so large and old a ship; the huge increase in fuel costs that would occur the next year; the number of passengers needed to make the ship profitable I suspect the Seawise University would not have had a long career and would have been scrapped. Turned into a hotel? Maybe for a while though the Queen Mary has been a money pit for decades. Too there's the element of whether C.Y. Tung was operating the ship for-profit or simply as project he enjoyed with cost being secondary.
I was given a book about the Queen Elizabeth that was signed by Commodore Marr on the liner's final voyage as the Queen Elizabeth. I think the book must have been aboard the ship at the time some of the footage here was made.
Along with being an ocean liner enthusiast I also like pens. A few years after the Seawise University was destroyed, the Parker pen company made a limited edition of fountain pens made from the brass and glass that had melted together on the bridge of the ship. I don't own one of those pens but would certainly like to see one.
I can only imagine the work and time and research that went into making this video. Thank you, OlympicWS! It was all worth it!
Thank you so much Andrew! I would like that pen to the collection. I have a lock mechanism from Queen Elizabeth and many other things. I fell in love with her. She was an amazing and magnificent ship with a tragic end. Sadly, her last remains are buried under the concrete of the Container Terminal 9
When the Queen Mother found out that her namesake ship was to be retired, she requested one more visit to the ship she launched.
The Royal visit did happen and it was said that the dockside (starboard) side of the ship was cleaned and spruced up for her to see.
On this video this is evident....but look at the Port side of the ship.....very rusty and work stained!!!!! A nice touch by Cunard.
Brilliant documentary……thank you. I did my first trip as Purser’s Clerk on QE in 1963. I lived onboard for a brief period in Ft Lauderdale in 1969, and did my last trip in 2006 on QM2 as Cruise Director. Got a few memories of the period in between.
You lived in the officers quarter’s right isn’t that we’re the crew live in Florida do you have any pictures?
You can clearly see that the fire absolutely destroyed the ship's hull and superstructure.
By the way, excellent selection of music!
The last bit of text at 16:45 is very sad to read, knowing that a once-majestic liner had been reduced to nothing but landfill.
It's a shame that QUEEN ELIZABETH couldn't have been docked in New York as a hotel ship instead! Hurricanes tend to be reduced to strong thunderstorms by the time they reach up north! The Everglades is a Red Zone for hurricane season! I'm surprised they even thought putting it there was a good idea!
I would bet we'd have taken better care of it.
She was originally supposed to be In Philadelphia PA. It would had been cool if she was in NYC too I agree with you.
My mom got to go to a school dance on her when she was in Port Everglades. Doesn't recall too much except that they were only allowed in the space where the dance was being held and a bit of the deck outside, the rest of the ship was roped off for the night.
Did she dance on the Queen Elizabeth?
Yes, it was the Queen Elizabeth. She said she mostly took tickets and minded the door for gate crashers, but she said she enjoyed the sea air on deck while she was there.
@@Shipwright1918 very cool does she have any pictures of her time on board?
Afraid not, sorry. It wasn't the sort of thing where pictures were taken, and it wasn't like today where everyone has a rather good camera in their pockets. I've a few bits and bobs off the Queens, and a few other liners too, but they were acquired long after my mom's visit.
She didn't make a lot of fuss over it then or now, to her it was a big ship with red stacks and not much else, though she did say it looked nice lit up as the dance was in the evening. She can recall the lights in the portholes reflecting off the water in the dock where it was berthed, and she said it struck her just how big it was standing quayside waiting to go onboard.
For the longest time she thought it was the Queen Mary, I had to do some digging to find it was actually the Elizabeth instead.
Very beautiful
What a magnificent ship, the largest ocean liner in the world, a war hero , a legend, absolute tragedy and I think the fire was arson for sure, I mean multiple fires, the length of the ship, something doesn't add up and I have never heard of any serious investigations into this crime and I wonder if insurance was claimed, makes me sick that we, in the western world didn't have enough gratitude for the service of this ship and the many lives she protected during the war years, let alone the fact that she and her sister shortened the war by at least one year, we should have preserved her as a memorial ourselves and paid for it by subscription and volunteers, of which there would have been many, same for the Mauritania.
No mention of Tung's son's possible connection to the fire?
Jesus! How many fires was that? Even if you read deeper into her life, she was plagued by fire after fire from as early as her career in WW2!
This is so sad. She was the creme del la creme of all ocean liners and suffered such a humiliating demise. I wish she would have been purchased and operated by more competent people. I could picture her here at dock on the west side of Manhattan as a hotel, museum and restaurant. She had the glamour and the looks to attract throngs of customers and tourists.
A pure ocean liner with an impressive 42 ft top draught.
A thrue atlantic queen from the strict and severe design.
8:44 'The process of converting the ship into a floating inferno commenced' more like
I'm new to your channel.
Such a waste of a grand ship. I bet she would have taken the Blue Ribband from the QM if given the chance. If only better care and planning were taken when she was docked in Port Everglades, she might have made money and still been around today.
qe with engineering improvements, streamlined upper decks, much newer hull design was certainly faster. the spartan crew, light fuel and ballast, some favorable currents enabled her to go way over 32 kn for a stretch. never revield though, because of a marketing ploy.
@Ol Rusty’s Gameplay lounge my information about qe1 secret voyage speed is from several books, some of skeloton crew swore she hit 39 knots for a short time. anyway cunard did not want the qm1 to loose bookings, so they kept quiet to market mary as faster, elizabeth the largest.
Rest in peace queen Mary sister you will be missed 😢
The SS Normandie would have been the other major liner from the first half of the 1900s worth salvaging. By contrast, QE's successor, the QE2 (from the late 1960s) is now in Dubai, & its history & qualities (closer to those of the era of disco & polyester than that of the Titanic) lose something in translation. The SS Rotterdam, built in the 1950s, is another former ship that's now stationary, moored in Rotterdam. The SSR also has a different type of gravitas from its predecessors. Meanwhile, the SS United States (circa 1950s) sits gutted & in an almost abandoned state off Philadelphia's waterfront.
Can I please use the music in this video please 🙏🥺
What a mess! I'd have rather seen Cunard scrap it than the fate it suffered at the hands of subsequent owners.
As a nipper I was fortunate enough to see the Lizzie leave Ocean Terminal in Southampton on numerous occasions as it set off for New York. A lovely ship, nicer than the Mary to look at. Shame it succumb to arson, it should have been cut for razor blades in Scotland after it retired. She served her country and Cunard well, as did the Mary.
A clear example of how not to treat a Lady.. I have a strong sense of fear and dread for her older sister in Long Beach will share a similar fate due to neglect.
The music tho when she was on fire.
Such a tragedy.........
What started the fire?
Arson
Fire? More like six fires simultaneously.
Very good work though. Not the best Idea of Cunard White Star Line Limited to sell the QE to a private company. When they should have just sailed to her home port and Just put her as a Floating Museum and hotel there. The Queen Mary is safe in Long Beach but it was the same reason Cunard should have kept QE2 as well when they sold her off in 2008 they should have kept these liners and dock them so they can become museums. Selling the QE to China was a shot in the foot!
Cunard White Star Line ceased to exist in the 1940's
Im subscribed
hi, if the clowns at cunard had kept the ship in england this would not have happened, it could have been a floating hotel. even in 1936 there was clown activity when the Olympic was scrapped, what were they thinking ? laurel and hardy
I can imagine the same fate may await the QE2
The QE2 is perfectly fine and open to public though
The finest ocean liner of the world is destroyed by the devastating fire 😭😭😭😭😭one of the largest disasters of the shipping history.
You must remember she was over 30 years old. All that wood inside her tinder dry. One of the reasons she went up so fast.
*Victoria Harbor...9th January, 1972. Several fires broke out, almost simultaneously.*
Well, that's an old story were I come from, we like to call: the insurance game.
😂😂🤝😳😟
☀️😎🇺🇸☀️
That's a real shame, especially when there's actually been talk of a scheme here in the States, and elsewhere among very wealthy people to avoid being a citizen who must pay taxes, to become the residents of an ever traveling ship, that simply continuously moves from one port city to another all around the world. There are still people who talk of building the largest ship ever constructed for this purpose. This ship seems like it would have been a good candidate for that idea.
Well, there is still the USS United States sitting in a harbor here, just rotting away. It's much newer than the QE, and could still be saved.
☀️😎🇺🇸☀️
nobody in europe wanted to keep the ship? just americans?
takes a lot of money. how many times have the operators of the Queen Mary gone bust?
@@benwilson6145 true
2:48 That's quite sad to see :/
Permantly flood the bilge? Yes a total bilge statement.
in my opinion it would have stayed in long beach not a university
I am legitimately sad due to the end of the worlds biggest liner. if the fire wasn’t made by the reckless people Queen Elizabeth would make it through and maybe bought from long beach
Long beach can't even afford the upkeep and maintenance of one ship let alone two
Dust to dust.
Anytime some egotistical “businessman” buys one of these grand ladies it’s a guaranteed disaster.
Im going to get filthy rich! And build large ocean liners and name them after men! I have never understood why boats always have women names?
:(
Insurance fraud...
communist sabatoge against taiwan and fallout with tung chao yung.
Are you suggesting those multiple fires which broke out simultaneously were not accidental? 😉
@@highlysuggestible861 absolutely., and i am not into conspiracy nonsense.
Then why spend all of that money on restoration, which was almost complete, before burning her?
people spend more time and money visiting wrecks than actual ships still afloat that need help?
Horrible.
:(