RMS Queen Mary 2
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| RMS Queen Mary 2 | |
| Image:QM2FTL05.jpg Queen Mary 2 arriving at Ft. Lauderdale, January 28, 2004 | |
| Career | Image:British-Merchant-Navy-Ensign.svg |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | November 6, 2000 |
| Laid down: | July 4 2002 |
| Launched: | September 25, 2003 |
| Named: | January 8, 2004 |
| Maiden Voyage: | January 12, 2004 |
| Status: | in service |
| General Characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 151,400 gross tons |
| Displacement: | 76,000 tonnes (approx) |
| Length: | 345 m (1,132 ft) |
| Beam: | 41 m (135 ft) waterline, 45 m (147.5 ft) extreme (bridge wings) |
| Draft: | 10 m (32 ft 10 in) |
| Height: | 72 m (236.2 ft) keel to funnel (includes 17 passenger decks) |
| Power: | 157,000 horsepower (117 MW) GE LM2500+ gas turbine/diesel electric plant |
| Propulsion: | Four 21.5 MW pods: 2 fixed and 2 azimuthing |
| Speed: | approximately 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Complement: | 2,620 passengers, 1,253 officers and crew |
| Cost: | UK £460 million (approx US $800) |
The RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner Queen Mary, which was in turn named after Mary of Teck. At the time of her construction in 2003, the QM2 was in every dimension the largest passenger ship ever built. She will lose this title to Royal Caribbean International's Freedom of the Seas in May 2006, but she will remain the largest ocean liner (as opposed to cruise ship) built. Her luxuries include 15 restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, and a planetarium.
Contents |
Characteristics
The Queen Mary 2 is the current Cunard flagship and makes regular transatlantic crossings. The ship was constructed to complement the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) - the Cunard flagship from 1969 to 2004 - replacing it on the transatlantic route. The first RMS Queen Mary sailed the Atlantic from 1936 to 1967.
The prefix "RMS" on the QM2 originally stood for "Royal Mail Steamer", but now stands for "Royal Mail Ship". The QM2 is not a steamship like her predecessors, but is powered by General Electric gas turbines and diesel generators that produce the power to drive her four Rolls-Royce Mermaid electric podded azimuth propulsors. Also like her predecessors, she is a transatlantic ocean liner, as opposed to a cruise ship, though she is used for cruising purposes from time to time.
While the QM2 is the largest passenger ship, there are larger ships. Many supertankers, carrying crude oil in bulk, are of larger displacement when fully loaded (the largest, built in the 1970s, displace 400,000 to 500,000 tons and are far larger than any other ships), but their structural steel frames are a much lower component of their total laden mass than in other ships and they are of comparatively simple construction.
History
Concept and construction
Cunard completed a design for a new class of 84,000-ton, 2000-passenger liners on 8 June, 1998, but upon comparing those specifications with Carnival Cruise Lines' 100,000-ton Destiny-class cruise ships and Royal Caribbean's 137,200-ton Voyager of the Seas, immediately enlarged them.
Six months later, on 10 December, Cunard released details of "Project Queen Mary", the project to develop a liner that would complement Queen Elizabeth 2. Harland and Wolff of the UK, Aker Kværner of Norway, Fincantieri of Italy, Meyer Werft of Germany, and Chantiers de l'Atlantique of France were invited to bid on the project. If construction began immediately, the liner could be in service by 2002. But it was not until 6 November, 2000 that a contract was signed with Chantiers de l'Atlantique, a subsidiary of Alstom. This was the same yard that built Cunard's one-time rivals the SS Normandie and SS France of the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique. Designed with New York City in mind, engineers altered the dimensions of the smokestack to ensure the Queen Mary 2 would fit beneath the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.
Her keel was laid down on 4 July 2002, in Saint-Nazaire, France. Approximately 3000 craftsmen spent some 8 million working hours on the ship, and a total of 20,000 people were directly or indirectly involved in her design, construction, and fitting out. In total, 300,000 pieces of steel were assembled into 94 "blocks" off of the drydock, which were then stacked and welded together to complete the hull and superstructure. <ref>World Ship Society: Construction of the Largest Liner in the World</ref> She is so much larger than those that Chantiers normally build that the shipyard treated her as "1.6 ships." <ref>Queen Mary 2; Maxtone-Graham, John</ref>
The QM2 was launched on 21 March 2003 and began her sea trials on 25 September 2003, between Saint-Nazaire and the off-shore islands of Ile d'Yeu and Belle-Ile. The final stages of construction were marred by a fatal accident on 15 November 2003, when a gangway collapsed under a group of shipyard workers and their relatives who had been invited to visit the vessel. About 30 people on the gangway fell over 15 m (50 ft); 22 were injured and 16, including a child, were killed.
Construction was completed on schedule. Due to the size of the ship, the luxury of materials, and the fact that, due to her nature as an ocean liner, she required 40% more steel than a standard cruise ship, the final cost ended up being approximately $300,000 US per berth - nearly double that of ships such as Voyager of the Seas, Grand Princess, or Carnival Conquest. <ref>The History, Construction and Design of Queen Mary 2</ref>
Cunard took delivery in Southampton, England on 26 December 2003. On 8 January 2004, the liner was named Queen Mary 2 by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
Service history
Image:Queen Mary 2 05 KMJ.jpg On 12 January 2004, the Queen Mary 2 set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the United States, carrying 2,620 passengers under tight security due to terrorist threats.
During the XXVIII Olympics the QM2 sailed to Athens and docked at Piraeus for two weeks for use as a hotel-ship, serving British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, French President Jacques Chirac, former US president George Bush, and the US Olympic men's basketball team. <ref>QM2 will be floating fortress</ref> <ref>Dream Team beats Spain but tension builds</ref>
One 2005 transatlantic crossing saw the QM2 carrying, in a locked steamer trunk, the first US copy of J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, autographed by the author. This marked the first time a best-selling book had been transported to its international launch aboard an ocean liner. <ref>World's most famous ocean liner carries first J.K. Rowling-signed US copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince</ref>
In January 2006 the QM2 embarked on a circumnavigation of South America. Upon departure from Fort Lauderdale one of her propeller pods was damaged when it struck a channel wall, forcing the ship to sail at a slower speed, which resulted in Commodore Warwick's decision to skip several calls on its voyage to Rio de Janiero. Many of its passengers threatened to stage a sit-in protest because of the missed calls, before Cunard offered to refund the voyage costs. The QM2 will continue to run on reduced speed and several itinerary changes will be necessary until repairs have been completed in summer 2006. When back in Europe in June, the QM2 will pay her first visit to dry dock, where the damaged propeller pod will be unseated, repaired, and reassembled, requiring a second visit to the shipyard.<ref>News.Telegraph: Cunard foils QM2 mutiny with full refund offer</ref> Image:Qm2 qmsmall1.jpg
On February 23 2006, after completing the journey around South America, the QM2 met her namesake, the original RMS Queen Mary, which is permanently docked at Long Beach, CA. Escorted by a flotilla of smaller ships, the two Queens exchanged a "whistle salute" which was heard throughout the city of Long Beach. (see here for a podcast of the ships' meeting.)
Famous passengers and/or guests of the QM2 include Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, jazz musician Dave Brubeck, former US president George Bush, French President Jacques Chirac, comedian and actor John Cleese, actor Richard Dreyfuss, author and editor Harold Evans, director George Lucas, singer Carly Simon, singer Rod Stewart, and financier Donald Trump. <ref>Cunard news archive</ref>
On 10 January 2007, the QM2 will start her first world cruise, circling the globe in 81 days. On 20 February she is to meet her fleet-mate, the Queen Elizabeth 2, also on her 2007 world cruise, in Sydney harbour. <ref>Queen Mary 2 world cruise itinerary</ref> <ref>Queen Elizabeth 2 world cruise itinerary</ref> This will be the first time two Cunard Queens have been together in Sydney since the original Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth as troop ships in 1941. <ref>Queen Elizabeth 1940-1973</ref>
A running mate is currently planned, to be known as the MS Queen Victoria and entering service in 2007.
Design
Exterior
The Queen Mary 2's principal architect was Carnival's house designer, Stephen Payne, a self-admitted ocean liner aficionado. The exterior lines of the QM2 show hints of her predecessor, the Queen Mary, in the curved forward bridge screen, and the tower-like ends of the bridge screen that rise to the bridge wings. The ship also pays homage to the SS Normandie with its forward whaleback, and to the SS France with its two slender after-stacks.
Also, similar to previous liners like the SS Rotterdam there is a continuous wrap-around promenade deck on Deck 7, which passes behind the bridge screen to allow passengers to completely circumnavigate the deck while being protected from the strong wind generated by the ship being at full speed. Like many other ships, the flanking promenades are created by the need to step the superstructure in to allow for space for lifeboats. By SOLAS standards the lifeboats should have been lower on the ship's hull, but for the sake of the QM2's appearance, as well as to avoid the danger of large North Atlantic waves damaging the boats in a storm, Payne convinced SOLAS officials to exempt the QM2 from this requirement.
The ship is the first quadruple screw liner completed since the SS France in 1962.
One aspect of the QM2 that has been slightly criticised is the counter of her stern. Payne's intent was to make the ship's stern profile similar to that of the QE2, with a spoon shape, but the mounting of the propeller pods required a flat transom. The compromise was thus a combination of a more traditional rounded bowl shape with a contemporary box-like galleon stern.
As the QM2 is too large to dock in most ports, passengers are ferried to and from the ship in specially-built tenders. While at sea these are stored in davits alongside the lifeboats. To transport passengers to shore the tenders will pull up to one of four loading stations, named Kensington, Chelsea, Knightbridge and Belgravia, which each have a large hull door that hydraulically opens outwards to form a boarding platform, complete with railings and decking.
Interior
Contrary to the traditional practice on ocean liners, the main public rooms of the Queen Mary 2 are on the lowest public decks of the ship, with the passenger cabins stacked above. This allowed for larger rooms to be contained within the stronger hull, as well as for more passenger cabins to have private balconies - something highly demanded by ocean passengers in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Payne attempted to create a central axis to the two main public room decks (similar in fashion to the Normandie), but a full vista is broken by various public rooms that span the width of the ship. The dining rooms were placed further aft, though not directly at the stern, as done on some cruise ships like Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas, where vibration from the propellers at full speed would cause discomfort to dining passengers.
Deck 2, the lowest passenger deck, contains the Illuminations theatre and planetarium, Royal Court Theatre, Grand Lobby, Empire Casino, Golden Lion Pub, and lower level of the Britannia Restaurant. Deck 3 holds the upper levels of Illuminations, the Royal Court and Britannia, as well as a shopping arcade, Veuve Cliquot champagne bar, the Chart Room, Sir Samuel's wine bar, the Queen's Room, and the G32 Nightclub. The other main public deck is Deck 7, on which are the Canyon Ranch Spa, Winter Garden, King's Court (a buffet dining area by day which is transformed into four themed restaurants in the evening), the Queen's Grill Lounge, and the Queen's Grill and Princess Grill restaurants for higher-fare passengers. The only public room on Deck 8 is the à la carte Todd English Restaurant, though a large outdoor pool and terrace are at the stern.
It has been argued that the separation of passengers into different restaurants based on the price of the cabin they booked (the Britannia as "standard" for regular cabins, the Princess Grill as "middle" for those in junior suites, and the Queen's Grill as "superior" for deluxe suite occupants) makes the QM2 a ship divided into three classes, despite the fact that all other public rooms are used by all passengers equally. Though this situation is similar on the QE2, it is further enhanced on the QM2 by the fact that "Grill Passengers" (those dining in the Princess Grill or Queen's Grill) also have a private outdoor deck with its own whirlpool on Deck 11.
As the QM2 was the first single-class ocean liner built since the immigrant ships of the early part of the 20th century (unlike her fleet-mate the Queen Elizabeth 2, which was originally built for three classes, and in her early years operated partly as a single-class cruise ship and partly as a "classed" liner), the QM2 could afford to have a clearer arrangement of staircases and passages that does not have to allow for doors and partitions being closed off when the ship is in a "classed" transatlantic mode.
However, due to the arrangement of the public rooms, there are some "kinks" in the design. For instance, as the Britannia Restaurant takes up the full width of the ship on two decks, a 'tween deck, called Deck 3L, was devised to allow passengers to walk from the Grand Lobby to the Queen's Room without traversing the dining room mid-meal. The deck consists of two corridors that run beneath the upper balcony of the Britannia on Deck 3, and above the main dining area on Deck 2. This is why the balcony of the Britannia has tiers that step up towards the hull. This arrangement is illustrated on the hull where there is a stack of three rows of windows in the area where the main restaurant sits - the two upper and lower rows illuminate the dining room, while the centre row serves Deck 3L. There is a similar arrangement through the Royal Court Theatre. As well, the passages that run on either side of Illuminations on Deck 3 ramp upwards to compensate for the change in deck elevation between the entrance to Illuminations and an elevator bank forward of the room. <ref>Queen Mary 2; Maxtone-Graham, John</ref>
More than 5000 specially-commissioned works of art are visible in the QM2's public rooms, corridors, staterooms and lobbies, having been created by 128 artists from 16 different countries. <ref>The art of cruising in luxury</ref> Two very notable pieces are Barbara Broekman's two-storey-high tapestry in the Britannia Restaurant - an abstract depiction of an ocean liner, bridge, and New York skyline - and John McKenna's sheet bronze relief mural in the Grand Lobby, inspired by the art deco mural in the main dining room of the original Queen Mary. <ref>Queen Mary 2 Cunard</ref>
External links
- News reports and picture from Maritime Matters
- Cunard
- Queen Mary 2 photo gallery
- Queen Mary 2 interior and exterior pictures
- Maiden voyage photo-log
- Passengers threaten mutiny on crippled "Queen Mary 2"
Footnotes
<references />da:Queen Mary 2 de:Queen Mary 2 es:Queen Mary 2 fr:Queen Mary 2 id:RMS Queen Mary 2 nl:Queen Mary 2 pl:RMS Queen Mary 2 pt:Queen Mary 2 fi:Queen Mary 2 sv:GTS Queen Mary 2