Click HERE to download a ‘cut away’ graphic of Cunarder Queen Victoria (pdf)

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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The fact that next week's auction, which comes just a few months before QE2 is to be withdrawn from service in November and transformed into a floating hotel in Dubai, is expected to boost the bidding from collectors.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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