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Alternative designs for QE2 revealed
HOW things could have
been!
For nearly 40 years the distinctive
shape of the legendary liner,
Queen Elizabeth 2, has become a
familiar sight on the city's waterfront
but now the Daily Echo can
reveal just how different she
might have looked.
This rare image shows the
design put forward by the Belfast
shipyard, Harland and Wolff, as it
fought to win the contract to build
the former Cunard flagship back
in 1964.
The hull and superstructure
have all the hallmarks of a true
ocean-going liner but in this version
QE2's funnel is set amid-ships
and although it has a more futuristic
look than those on the earlier
Cunard vessels, Queen Mary and
Queen Elizabeth, it is far more traditional
design to that which eventually
topped the most famous passenger
ship in the world.
Had Cunard chosen the Harland
and Wolff tender, one of the greatest
ship's in the nation's maritime
history would have been quite different
from the sleeker lines that
emerged from the John Brown
shipyard on the River Clyde when
she was launched by the Queen in
1967.
The picture, dated November 27,
1964, and also carrying the
Harland and Wolff official stamp,
is expected to attract huge interest
from collectors, when it comes up
for sale next week.
According to the London auctioneer,
Charles Miller, who specialises
in maritime memorabilia,
interest in the picture, drawn on
linen and in a walnut frame, is
expected to be intense and bids
could well reach in excess of
£1,500.
The fact that next week's auction,
which comes just a few
months before QE2 is to be withdrawn
from service in November
and transformed into a floating
hotel in Dubai, is expected to boost
the bidding from collectors.
4:58am Wednesday 9th July 2008
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