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RMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' was an ocean liner operated by the Cunard Line. With her running mate ', she provided luxury liner service between Southampton, the United Kingdom, and New York City, the United States, via Cherbourg, France. She was also contracted for over twenty years to carry the Royal Mail as the second half of the two ships' weekly express service. While being constructed, in the mid-1930s by John Brown and Company at Clydebank, Scotland, she was known as ''Hull 552'' but when launched, on 27 September 1938, she was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth, who was then Queen Consort to King George VI and in 1952 became the Queen Mother. With a design that improved upon that of ', ''Queen Elizabeth'' was a slightly larger ship, the largest passenger liner ever built at that time and for fifty-six years thereafter. She also has the distinction of being the largest-ever riveted ship by gross tonnage. She first entered service in February 1940 as a troopship in World War II, and it was not until October 1946 that she served in her intended role as an ocean liner. With the decline in the popularity of the transatlantic route, both ships were replaced by ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' in 1969. ''Queen Mary'' was retired from service on 9 December 1967, and was sold to the city of Long Beach, California, US. ''Queen Elizabeth'' was sold to a succession of buyers, most of whom had adventurous and unsuccessful plans for her. Finally she was sold to a Hong Kong businessmen, Tung Chao Yung, who intended to convert her into a floating university cruise ship. In 1972, while undergoing refurbishment in Hong Kong harbour, she caught fire under mysterious circumstances and was capsized by the water used to fight the fire. In 1973, her wreck was deemed an obstruction, and she was partially scrapped where she lay. ==Building and design== On the day RMS ''Queen Mary'' sailed on her maiden voyage, Cunard's chairman, Sir Percy Bates, informed his ship designers that it was time to start designing the planned second ship known as ''Hull 552''.〔RMS Queen Elizabeth from Victory to Valhalla. pp. 10〕 The official contract between Cunard and government financiers was signed on 6 October 1936. The new ship improved upon the design of ''Queen Mary''〔Maxtone-Graham, John. ''The Only Way to Cross''. New York: Collier Books, 1972, p. 355〕 with sufficient changes, including a reduction in the number of boilers to twelve instead of ''Mary'' twenty-four, that the designers could discard one funnel and increase deck, cargo and passenger space. The two funnels were braced internally to give a cleaner looking appearance while the forward well deck was omitted, a more refined hull shape was achieved and a sharper, raked bow was added for a third bow-anchor point,〔 so that she was ten feet longer than the older ship.〔 ''Queen Elizabeth'' was built on slipway four at John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. During her construction she was more commonly known by her shipyard number, Hull 552.〔RMS Queen Elizabeth, The Beautiful Lady. Janette McCutcheon, The History Press Ltd (8 November 2001)〕 The interiors were designed by a team of artists headed by the architect George Grey Wornum.〔''The Liverpool Post'', 23 August 1937〕 Cunard's plan was for the ship to be launched in September 1938, with fitting out intended to be complete for the ship to enter service in the spring of 1940.〔 The Queen herself〔 performed the launching ceremony on 27 September 1938 and the ship was sent for fitting out.〔〔 It was announced that on 23 August 1939 the King and Queen were to visit the ship and tour the engine room and 24 April 1940 was to be the proposed date of her maiden voyage. Due to the outbreak of World War II, these two dates were postponed.〔 ''Queen Elizabeth'' sat at the fitting-out dock at the shipyard in her Cunard colours until 2 November 1939, when the Ministry of Shipping issued special licences to declare her seaworthy. On 29 December her engines were tested for the first time, running from 0900 to 1600 with the propellers disconnected to monitor her oil and steam operating temperatures and pressures. Two months later Cunard received a letter from Winston Churchill,〔Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 358-60〕 then First Lord of the Admiralty, ordering the ship to leave Clydeside as soon as possible and "to keep away from the British Isles as long as the order was in force". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「RMS Queen Elizabeth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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