MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Q2 1,500 cruisers heading for the Falklands

“Queen Elizabeth II” or Q2 as she's better known with her majestic presence left Saturday midday for the Falkland Islands with 1,500 cruise passengers and 1,000 crew after calling 24 hours in Montevideo.

The 65,863 tons and 270 metres long colossus, one of the most famous vessels in the world left Southampton last November first and should be back in England by the end of the month, and after calling in Stanley is scheduled to visit Rio do Janeiro, Dakar and Canary Islands.

According to Montevideo's tourist operators, local authorities displayed 500 naval personnel and policemen in the Old City of Uruguay's capital and some of the main attractions to ensure no unpleasant incidents.

However some visitors decided to visit Buenos Aires, a 20 minutes flight from Montevideo, and others travelled to tourist farms to enjoy a good Uruguayan beef barbeque and some of the local gaucho folklore and traditions.

Most of the visitors interviewed by Mercopress said the Q2 was a great vessel and they enjoyed very much the cruise. However some "veterans" regular cruise travellers pointed out "Q2 is getting a little bit old" compared to the new cruise vessels but "the food is excellent".

Actually Q2 built by Upper Clyde Shipbuilders from Glasgow with a service speed of 28 knots was launched September 1967 with a passenger accommodation of 564, first class and 1,441, tourist class. An idea of her size are the 140 cubic meters of garbage unloaded in Montevideo as well as the ten tons of fresh fruit and vegetables and 1,300 tons of drinking water she loaded before heading south.

Although originally built for transatlantic crossing, she gradually became totally involved in the cruising business and in 1982 played a leading support role in transporting troops to the South Atlantic during the Falklands war.

On her return to Southampton from a cruise season, on 3 May 1982, the ship was requisitioned by the British Government. Conversion work began immediately with the addition of helicopter flight decks and a modern communications system. The 5th infantry brigade, comprising of the Scots and Welsh Guards and the Gurkhas, then boarded the ship and it set off for South Georgia on 12 May. It arrived on 27 May and disembarked the troops and then took on board the survivors of the HMS Ardent. It had become clear that the Argentinians were using air reconnaissance to try and locate the ship so it left the same day and headed north.

The QE2 returned to Southampton on 11 June and work began on restoring the ship for commercial service. Following its annual overhaul, in November 1983, the ship developed boiler problems which resulted in the cancellation of a cruise. The following year, in April, the ship suffered minor damage after colliding with a breakwater at the Piraeus, in Athens, but repairs were carried out quickly. In October an electrical fire caused a complete loss of power and delayed the QE2 for two days. On her return to Southampton it was decided that double reduction steam turbines would have to be changed to diesel engines in order to increase efficiency. This was done by Lloyd Werfte at Bremerhaven and was expected to save £12 million a year in fuel costs. Nine diesel electric engines, new propellers and equipment to capture heat expelled by the engines were fitted. The passenger accommodation was also extensively improved.

The work meant that the ship was out of service from November 1986 to April 1987. The QE2 then underwent trials in the North Sea and returned to commercial service. Despite being constantly in the eye of the world's press and the financial difficulties involved in running the ship it is still in service today. The QE2 is still successful and is the last of the great Cunarderss built for the transatlantic crossing