MS Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth in Tallinn, 10 June 2011
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| History | |
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| Name: | Queen Elizabeth |
| Owner: | Carnival Corporation & plc |
| Operator: | Cunard Line |
| Port of registry: |
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| Ordered: | October, 2007 |
| Builder: | Fincantieri Monfalcone Shipyard, Italy |
| Cost: | UK£350 million (approx.)(US$560 million) |
| Yard number: | 6187 |
| Laid down: | 2 July 2009 |
| Launched: | 5 January 2010 |
| Christened: |
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| Completed: | October 2010 |
| Maiden voyage: | 12 October 2010 |
| In service: | October 2010 |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Vista Class cruise ship |
| Tonnage: | 90,901 GT |
| Length: | 294 m (965 ft) |
| Beam: | 32.3 m (106 ft) |
| Draught: | 8 m (26 ft) |
| Decks: |
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| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 23.7 knots (43.9 km/h; 27.3 mph) |
| Capacity: | 2,092 passengers lower beds, 2,547 maximum passengers |
MS Queen Elizabeth is a Vista-class cruise ship operated by the Cunard Line. She is the second largest ship constructed for Cunard, exceeded only by Queen Mary 2, and is capable of carrying up to 2,092 passengers. The ship is running mate to Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2.
Queen Elizabeth is a modified design and she is slightly larger than Queen Victoria, at 92,000 GT, largely due to a more vertical stern.
The ship's name was announced by Cunard on 10 October 2007. Since the retirement of Queen Elizabeth 2 in 2008 the company has operated three vessels. The naming of the ship as Queen Elizabeth brings about a situation similar to that between 1940 and 1948, when Cunard's original Queen Elizabeth was in service at the same time as the Royal Navy battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth. The Royal Navy plans to introduce the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth into service in 2016, six years after this ship joined the fleet.
Queen Elizabeth is almost identical in design to Queen Victoria, although because of the steeper stern, her passenger capacity is slightly higher (2,058 to Queen Victoria's 2,014).
Also unlike many previous Cunard Queens, Queen Elizabeth is not a true ocean liner as she does not have the heavy plating throughout the hull nor the propulsion system of a dedicated transatlantic liner. However the bow was constructed with heavier plating to cope with the Transatlantic run, and the ship has a high freeboard. During construction Queen Mary 2 had cost approximately $300,000 US per berth, nearly double that of many contemporary cruise ships, so Cunard made the economical decision to base Queen Elizabeth on an enhanced Vista-class cruise ship.
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Wikipedia