It was a quiet evening in the Southampton offices of ferry and tug company Red Funnel - but the peace was about to be shattered. The telephone rang and an anxious sounding voice said: “Queen Elizabeth has touched ground. Send all available tugs.”

It was Monday, April 14, 1947, when one of the biggest and most challenging recovery exercises the port of Southampton has ever seen began.

At the time, the 83,000 ton liner was one of the best loved ships on the seas, and with eight years of service behind her, she was a veteran of running the transatlantic line.

Queen Elizabeth was making one of her final approaches to Southampton Water, when she struck ground on the Bramble Bank and ground to a halt.

It wasn’t long before news of the situation reached the public and they flocked in their thousands to the shorelines in order to catch a glimpse of the giant liner languishing on the sandbank.

Queen Elizabeth lay on an even keel about a mile off shore, her bow pointing towards Southampton Docks while passengers strolled about her decks, waving to the crowds on the shore.

As soon as the call was made to Red Funnel, they dispatched tugs Canute, Clausentum, Neptune and Vulcan, while Alexandra Towing Company sent Romey Hornby and Poulsom.

The lights of the liner along with those of the tugs lit up the night sky as they combined forces in an attempt to move Queen Elizabeth. They used their raw power in an attempt to push, pull, nudge and cajole her free but she remained resolutely stuck on the sandbank overnight.

By first light the following day a further nine tugs joined the effort with the first orchestrated attempt to free her taking place at 6:45am

“Three blasts from the liner’s sirens as a signal that she was trying to move astern denoted to watchers on the Calshot shore that the effort had begun,” reported the Daily Echo.

“It continued for nearly ten minutes, but the liner remained stationary.

“Black smoke which belched from the funnels of the tugs at the stern drifted over the liner’s superstructure. The refloating efforts were continued at brief intervals, the tugs regrouping around the liner from time to time.

“The throb of the liner’s powerful engines came over the water as she tried vainly to free herself in conjunction with the efforts of the tugs.”

As the hours dwindled away, a constant stream of traffic delivered curious spectators to the shore to see Queen Elizabeth resting on the Brambles.

“Although the wind has been chilly, a good number of people have sat on the beach enjoying a picnic luncheon and watching the liner,” said the Daily Echo.

The 16 tugs managed to free her at 8.40pm - 26 hours after she originally ran aground.

That was not unfortunately the end of her woes as she was unable to make the passage up Southampton Water due to the area being cloaked in thick fog.

Almost 1,000 passengers, mostly those travelling in first class, had already been disembarked and taken to Southampton by the Red Funnel paddle-steamer Solent Queen as well as the Southern Railway vessel Merstone.

By the time Queen Elizabeth came alongside her berth in Southampton Docks, between 9pm and 10pm on Wednesday, April 16, about 1,500 passengers were still on board.

A diving duo of Frank Poole and Bob Smith were sent underwater to carry out a close inspection of the hull. They descended 30 feet and ascertained no damage had occurred

Master of Queen Elizabeth, Captain C M Ford later said: “In calculating the swing into the channel, you have to keep headway on the ship in order to make your turn. On this occasion the ship did not respond, even with the action of the propellers to assist.”

The following Saturday, April 19, Queen Elizabeth set sail for another trans-Atlantic crossing to New York at an average speed of more than 28 knots in the hope of making up the lost time she had lost.