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[[File:QE2 in John Browns shipyard - geograph.org.uk - 111928.jpg|thumb|''QE2''<nowiki/>'s hull at Number 736 on the slipway, 1967|left]]
By 1957, transatlantic sea travel was becoming displaced by air transit due to its speed and low relative cost, with passenger numbers split 50:50 between them.<ref>Glen. Page 296.</ref> With jets capable of spanning the ocean non-stop replacing prop planes, and the debut of the [[Boeing 707]] and the [[Douglas DC-8|Douglas DC8]] in 1958, the trend was rapidly increasing.<ref name="PayneP31">Payne. Page 31.</ref> Simultaneously, the aging {{RMS|Queen Mary|3=2}} and ''[[RMS Queen Elizabeth|Queen Elizabeth]]'' were becoming increasingly expensive to operate, and both internally and externally were relics of the pre-war era.
Despite falling passenger revenues, Cunard did not want to give up its traditional role as a provider of a North Atlantic passenger service and Royal Mail carrier, and so decided to replace the obsolete ''Queens'' with a new generation liner.<ref name="chriscunard">{{cite web |url=https://www.chriscunard.com/qe2/qe2-facts |title=QE2 Facts |year=2010 |website=Chris' Cunard Page |access-date=13 May 2010}}</ref>
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The original narrow funnel was rebuilt larger during her 1986 refurbishment in [[Bremerhaven]], using steel panels from the original,{{cn|date=June 2024}} when the ship was converted from steam to [[Diesel engine|diesel]] power.{{why|reason=Why was the funnel enlarged? For aesthetic reasons? Why would diesel power require larger funnels than steam?|date=June 2024}}
Large quantities of weight-saving aluminium were used in the framing and cladding of ''QE2''{{'}}s superstructure in place of steel. Reducing the draft of the ship lowered fuel consumption, but invited the electrochemical corrosion where the dissimilar metals are joined together, prevented by using a jointing compound. The low melting point of aluminium caused concern when ''QE2'' was serving as a troopship during the
In 1972, the first penthouse suites were added in an aluminium structure on Signal Deck and Sports Deck (now "Sun Deck"), behind the ship's [[bridge (ship)|bridge]], and in 1977 this structure was expanded to include more suites with balconies, making ''QE2'' one of the first ships to offer private terraces to passengers since ''Normandie'' in the 1930s. Her balcony accommodation was expanded for the final time when her funnel was widened during the 1986/87 overhaul.
''QE2''{{'}}s final structural changes included the reworking of the aft decks during the 1994 refit, following the removal of the [[magrodome]],
===Interiors===
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Over the span of her thirty-nine-year seagoing career, ''QE2'' received a number of interior refits and alterations.
The year ''QE2'' entered service, 1969,
[[Dennis Lennon]] was responsible for co-ordinating the interior design,
The Midships Lobby on Two Deck, where first-class passengers boarded for transatlantic journeys and all passengers boarded for cruises, was a circular room with a sunken seating area in the centre with green leather-clad banquettes
The Theatre Bar on Upper Deck featured red chairs, red drapes, a red egg crate fibreglass screen, and even a red baby [[grand piano]]. Some more traditional materials like wood veneer were used as highlights throughout the ship, especially in passenger corridors and staterooms. There was also an Observation Bar on Quarter Deck, a successor to its namesake, located in a similar location, on both previous ''Queens'', which offered views through large windows over the ship's bow.
▲The Theatre Bar on Upper Deck featured red chairs, red drapes, a red egg crate fibreglass screen, and even a red baby [[grand piano]]. Some more traditional materials like wood veneer were used as highlights throughout the ship, especially in passenger corridors and staterooms. There was also an Observation Bar on Quarter Deck, a successor to its namesake, located in a similar location, on both previous ''Queens'', which offered views through large windows over the ship's bow. This room was lost in ''QE2''{{'}}s 1972 refit, becoming galley space with the forward-facing windows plated over.
Some original elements were retained, including the flared columns in the Queen's Room and Mid-Ships Lobby
▲In the 1994 refit, almost all of the remaining original decor was replaced, with Cunard opting to reverse the original design direction of ''QE2''{{'}}s designers and use the line's traditional ocean liners as inspiration. The green velvet and leather Midships Bar became the [[Art Deco]] inspired Chart Room, receiving an original, custom-designed piano from ''Queen Mary''. The (by now) blue dominated Theatre Bar was transformed into the Golden Lion Pub, which mimics a traditional [[Edwardian period|Edwardian]] pub.
By the time of
▲Some original elements were retained including the flared columns in the Queen's Room and Mid-Ships Lobby which were incorporated into the reworked designs. The Queen's Room's indirect lighting from above was replaced with uplighters which reversed the original light airy effect by illuminating the lowered ceiling and leaving shadows in the ceiling's slot. The furniture and carpet which replaced Michael Inchbald's designs were incongruous next to the flared columns and slotted ceiling.
▲By the time of her retirement, the synagogue was the only room that had remained unaltered since 1969.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://members.tripod.com/~Tziper/today.htm | title=Queen Elizabeth 2: Today |publisher=Members.tripod.com |access-date=14 July 2010}}</ref> However it was reported that during ''QE2''{{'}}s 22 October five-night voyage, the synagogue was dismantled and removed from the ship before her final sailing to Dubai.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.travelserver.net/travelpage/ubb-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=004606 |title=Cruise Talk – Topic: QE2's Synagogue dismantled |publisher=Travelserver.net |access-date=14 July 2010}}</ref>
===Artwork and artefacts===
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[[File:21-QE2 Re-engine.jpg|thumb|''Queen Elizabeth 2''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s original funnel, removed while being re-engined; some of its panels were recycled to create QE2's new funnel.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}]]
''Queen Elizabeth 2'' was originally fitted out with a [[steam turbine]] propulsion system using three Foster Wheeler E.S.D II boilers, which provided steam for the two Brown-[[Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company|Parsons]] turbines. The turbines were rated with a maximum power output figure of {{convert|110000|shp}} (normally operating at {{cvt|94000|hp|disp=or}}) and coupled via double-reduction gearing to two six-bladed fixed-pitch [[propeller]]s.
The steam turbines were plagued with problems{{Citation needed|date=August 2012}} from the time the ship first entered service and, despite being technically advanced and fuel-efficient in 1968, her consumption of 600 tons of fuel oil every twenty-four hours was more than expected for such a ship by the 1980s. After seventeen years of service, the availability of spare parts was becoming difficult due to the outdated design of the boilers and turbines and the constant use of the machinery which was mainly due to Cundard's cost-saving deletion of the originally planned 4th boiler while the ship was still on the drawing board.
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During the ship's 1986 to 1987 refit, the steam turbines were removed and replaced with nine German [[MAN SE|MAN]] 9L58/64 nine-cylinder, medium-speed diesel engines, each weighing approximately 120 tons. Using a diesel-electric configuration, each engine drives a generator, each developing 10.5 MW of electrical power at 10,000 volts. This electrical plant, in addition to powering the ship's auxiliary and hotel services through transformers, drives the two main propulsion motors, one on each propeller shaft. These motors produce 44 MW each and are of synchronised salient-pole construction, nine metres in diameter and weighing more than 400 tons each.
The ship's service speed of {{convert|28.5|kn|km/h}} was now maintained using only seven of the diesel-electric sets. The maximum power output with the new engine configuration running increased to 130,000 hp, which was greater than the previous system's 110,000 hp. Using the same IBF-380 ([[Bunker C]]) fuel, the new configuration yielded a 35% fuel saving over the previous system. During the re-engining process, her funnel was
During the refit, the original fixed-pitch propellers were replaced with [[variable-pitch propeller (marine)|variable-pitch propellers]]. The old steam propulsion system required astern turbines to move the ship backward or stop her moving forward. The pitch of the new variable pitch blades could simply be reversed, causing a reversal of propeller thrust while maintaining the same direction of propeller rotation, allowing the ship shorter stopping times and improved handling characteristics.
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On 23 July 1976 while the ship was 80 miles off the Scilly Isles on a transatlantic voyage, a flexible coupling drive connecting the starboard main engine high-pressure rotor and the reduction gearbox ruptured. This allowed lubricating oil under pressure to enter into the main engine room where it ignited, creating a severe fire. It took 20 minutes to bring the fire under control. Reduced to two boilers, ''QE2'' limped back to Southampton. Damage from the fire resulted in a replacement boiler having to be fitted by dry-docking the ship and cutting an access hole in her side.<ref name="PayneP36" />
By 1978
Between the late 1970s and early 1980s, the ship was testing a new ablative anti-fouling type paint for the Admiralty which was only available in blue. When they finally made the paint available in different colours they returned ''QE2'' anti-fouling paint to the traditional red colour.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php?topic=8118.msg92582#msg92582%7CQE2|title=QE2 Refit and Repairs: 3 November to 14 December 1978|website=www.theqe2story.com}}</ref>
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During the voyage, the ship was blacked out and the radar switched off to avoid detection, steaming on without modern aids.<ref name="chrisqe2hist" /><ref name="Falk">{{cite web |url= http://www.cunard.com/AboutCunard/NewsReleases.asp?Cat=&View=ViewArticle&Mode=News&ContentID=6601&Active=News |title=''Cunard's QE2 Hosts Falklands Reunion'' |publisher=Cunard |access-date=14 July 2010 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225184847/http://www.cunard.com/AboutCunard/NewsReleases.asp?Cat=&View=ViewArticle&Mode=News&ContentID=6601&Active=News |archive-date=25 February 2011}}</ref>
''QE2'' returned to the UK on 11 June 1982, where she was greeted in [[Southampton Water]] by [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother]] on board {{Ship|HMY|Britannia}}. Peter Jackson, the captain of the ocean liner, responded to the Queen Mother's welcome: "Please convey to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth our thanks for her kind message. Cunard's ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' is proud to have been of service to [[Her Majesty’s Forces|Her Majesty's Forces]]."<ref name="Falk" /> The ship underwent conversion back to passenger service, with her funnel being painted in the traditional Cunard orange with black stripes, which are known as "hands," for the first time, during the refit the hull's exterior a decision was
The new colour scheme proved unpopular with passengers,<ref name=TheQE2Story /> as well as difficult to maintain
===Diesel era and Project Lifestyle===
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==== Final voyage ====
On her final arrival into Southampton, ''QE2'' (on 11 November 2008, with 1,700 passengers and 1,000 crew on board) ran [[aground]] in the [[Solent]] near the [[Southampton Water]] entrance at 5.26 am, on a triangular sandbank roughly equidistant between the mouth of Southampton Water and [[East Cowes]] named [[Bramble Bank]]. [[BBC]] reported "[[Cunard Line|Cunard]] has confirmed it touched the bottom at the Brambles Turn [[sandbank]] (sandback) near [[Calshot]], [[Southampton Water]], with three tugs attached to her [[stern]] (0530 [[GMT]]). A fourth tug secured a line to the ship's [[Bow (ship)|bow]]."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5howpLVxZV1XpwNbNPrkW5WU90P4w|title=ukpress.google.com, ''QE2'' runs aground on final tour}}{{Dead link|date=
Once safely back at her berth, preparations continued for her farewell celebrations. These were led by [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]] who toured the ship at great length. He visited areas of interest including the Engine Control Room. He also met with current and former crew members.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/heritage/deheritageqe2/3838884.QE2_sails_away_on_tide_of_emotion/ |title=QE2 sails away on tide of emotion|date=11 November 2008 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630172918/http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/heritage/deheritageqe2/3838884.QE2_sails_away_on_tide_of_emotion/|newspaper=Southern Daily Echo |archive-date=30 June 2012 }}</ref> During this time, divers were sent down to inspect the hull for any possible damage caused by the vessel's earlier mishap – none was found.
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===Istithmar, Nakheel, ''QE2'' in Dubai and Cape Town hotel proposal===
[[File:Queen Elizabeth 2 - IMO 6725418, Caledonian MacBrayne Saturn - IMO 7615490 (2919806828).jpg|thumb|upright|''QE2'' with her [[paying-off pennant]] flying]]
Her final voyage from Southampton to Dubai under the command of Captain [[Ian McNaught]] began on 11 November 2008, arriving on 26 November in a flotilla of 60 smaller vessels,<ref>{{cite news|title=Britain's Queen Elizabeth 2 Arrives in Dubai |url=
She was greeted with a fly-past from an [[Emirates (airline)|Emirates]] [[Airbus A380]] jet and a huge fireworks display, while thousands of people gathered at the [[Mina Rashid]], waving the flags of the [[Union Jack|United Kingdom]] and the [[Flag of the United Arab Emirates|United Arab Emirates]]. Since her arrival in Dubai ''QE2'' remained moored at [[Port Rashid]]. Shortly after her final passengers were disembarked, she was moved forward to the cargo area of the port, to free up the passenger terminal for other cruise vessels.
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===2011–2012 New Year's party aboard ''QE2''===
On 31 December 2011, ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' was the location of a lavish New Year's Eve party in Dubai.<ref name="nye2011">{{cite web |url=https://www.chriscunard.com/qe2/qe2-dubai/qe2-new-years-eve-2011/ |title=QE2 New Years Eve 2011 |access-date=1 January 2012 |archive-date=12 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712042342/https://www.chriscunard.com/qe2/qe2-dubai/qe2-new-years-eve-2011/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The black tie event<ref name="gulfnews">{{cite web|url=http://gulfnews.com/arts-entertainment/celebrity/a-glamorous-end-to-2011-aboard-the-qe2-1.959534 |title=A glamorous end to 2011 aboard QE2 |date=January 2012 |access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref> was run by Global Event Management and included over 1,000 guests.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45666865/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/dubai-open-famed-liner-qe-new-years-bash/]{{dead link|date=
===July 2012: Hotel announcement===
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