0:00:02 > 0:00:05In 1967, at John Brown's Yard in Glasgow,
0:00:05 > 0:00:11a newly-built ship launched a remarkable 40-year love story.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13The QE2 captured the heart of the nation.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18An empress of the seas, she became a great British icon
0:00:18 > 0:00:22and the most famous liner in the world.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25The marketing slogan in the 60s when this ship came out,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27was, "Ships have been boring too long".
0:00:27 > 0:00:32The QE2 has got the most magnificent bow profile.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36The ship has got extremely elegant hull lines.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40The QE2 was state of the art design and technology,
0:00:40 > 0:00:46and she quickly established herself as the stylish and fashionable way to cross the Atlantic.
0:00:46 > 0:00:52It was right at the cutting edge and rather than being some vintage piece that you'd see
0:00:52 > 0:00:57in some Austin Powers movie, it's cool 60s, as opposed to cheesy 60s, and that's the important thing.
0:00:57 > 0:01:03She was so cool that the top stars of the day couldn't get enough.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06They all wanted to be seen on the QE2.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10Pure scale, pure engineering, pure grace, pure balance.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13A floating piece of symmetry.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18I don't think you can help but feel proud to be British
0:01:18 > 0:01:24with something that is so... beautiful, so iconic.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28To be aboard the Queen, I should have been living in steerage.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33But there I was in first class and I loved it all.
0:01:33 > 0:01:39The legendary lady has established some impressive records during her four decades of service.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43She has sailed more than 5.5 million miles,
0:01:43 > 0:01:49carried more than 2.5 million passengers and crossed the Atlantic a staggering 800 times.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53She has also survived terrorists threats and war.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58She'll be sadly missed by a lot of the people who went on her,
0:01:58 > 0:02:04certainly the boys who sailed on her to war, because it holds our last real abiding memories of our friends.
0:02:04 > 0:02:10Timewatch joins the 2,700 crew and passengers on board as the QE2
0:02:10 > 0:02:15leaves Britain for the last time and glides gracefully into retirement.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33FOG HORN SOUNDS
0:02:42 > 0:02:47On November 11th 2008, Britain's most famous ship
0:02:47 > 0:02:51cast off from her home port of Southampton for the very last time.
0:02:51 > 0:02:59The QE2 has been in and out of the port over 700 times, in her 40 year career.
0:03:01 > 0:03:06Her final voyage from Southampton to Dubai will take 16 days,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08calling at Lisbon and Gibraltar,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12then across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome and Naples.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15From there she'll head south to the island of Malta
0:03:15 > 0:03:17and on to Alexandria in Egypt,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20before negotiating the Suez Canal one last time.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Her final resting place will be Dubai
0:03:23 > 0:03:25where she will be converted to a floating hotel.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40Tickets for the final voyage sold out in just 35 minutes.
0:03:40 > 0:03:46For the 1,700 passengers lucky enough to get one, they can look forward to two weeks of luxury,
0:03:46 > 0:03:53elegance, relaxation and some of the finest dining afloat on what has become the nation's favourite ship.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58Ladies and gentlemen, the master of the QE2, Captain Ian McNaught.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00APPLAUSE
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Welcome to the Queen's Room. As always on the QE2, it's my personal
0:04:08 > 0:04:14pleasure and privilege to welcome you on board for this final voyage.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18What a great send-off from the city of Southampton. I hope you enjoyed that.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20APPLAUSE
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Not a dry eye in the house, I think. A very special evening indeed
0:04:24 > 0:04:29and a fitting end to the last home port call for this ship.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Anyway, on behalf of not just us here on the dance floor but all 1,000 who
0:04:33 > 0:04:37make up the ship's company of this, the most famous ship in the world,
0:04:37 > 0:04:44all I'm going to say is, enjoy this great ship because there never will be another one, so enjoy it.
0:04:51 > 0:04:57For the passengers and crew, this journey brings to an end a long and eventful relationship
0:04:57 > 0:05:02with what many call the most beautiful ship in the world.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08I think really it's all a question of scale.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11And it's quite difficult to appreciate the scale
0:05:11 > 0:05:13when you're so close.
0:05:13 > 0:05:20But then you get, for the first time, to look down a corridor and then you realise she's really big.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Because the corridors are like streets.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27I think it's one of the post-war symbols of Britain.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29It ranks as one of those things
0:05:29 > 0:05:35that people recognise and stood a little taller when they saw it
0:05:35 > 0:05:40sailing across the world. "Ooh, look, the QE2!"
0:05:40 > 0:05:46Probably the most important word that for me sums up the QE2 is glamorous.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52I walk on and it's like putting on an old pair of slippers.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54You feel comfortable with it.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Probably because we know our way round
0:05:56 > 0:06:00but we know everything about the ship, or a lot about the ship.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05Perhaps more than some people. But I always feel at home.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08What is special about QE2 is, of course, its mystique.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11It was actually built and formed in a period
0:06:11 > 0:06:15when there was still a great deal of romance attached
0:06:15 > 0:06:18to the transatlantic liners.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24People feel personally involved with the ship for some reason,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27there's like a magic spell cast upon them when they come here.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29It comes over everyone.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39The story of the QE2 begins in the early 1960s.
0:06:39 > 0:06:44She was a state of the art vessel, a masterpiece of British engineering.
0:06:44 > 0:06:50The specially designed turbines and twin propellers would make her one of the fastest ships afloat.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55But few people realised that the QE2 came close to not making it off the drawing board.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00For a while it appeared that it might remain a dream in the designers' minds.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05It was the dawn of the space age and the Cunard's two big liners, Queen Elizabeth
0:07:05 > 0:07:08and Queen Mary, were coming to the end of their working lives.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12A replacement would soon be urgently needed.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16There was a big debate about what the role of this new ship
0:07:16 > 0:07:20was going to be and there were Commons committees and all sorts.
0:07:20 > 0:07:21Everybody, every man and dog
0:07:21 > 0:07:25had a view of what the ship should be and there were those who
0:07:25 > 0:07:29wanted a Queen Elizabeth replacement or a Queen Mary replacement and those who wanted a cruise ship.
0:07:30 > 0:07:39Originally Cunard wanted a pure-bred ocean liner like The United States or The France or any of these other
0:07:39 > 0:07:40large post-war flagships
0:07:40 > 0:07:45but with the advent of jet air travel there had to be a re-think.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Cunard came up with a clever solution.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Their new liner would have two roles.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55In the summer, it would sail the north Atlantic route to New York,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59but in winter it would be a cruise ship, taking in destinations
0:07:59 > 0:08:01such as the Mediterranean, the Caribbean
0:08:01 > 0:08:04and eventually round the world.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07That simple brief had a huge impact on the design of the ship.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10They wanted it to go through the Panama Canal
0:08:10 > 0:08:16and they wanted it to go across the Atlantic, and to some extent the two requirements are incompatible.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20So they had this problem, they wanted it to go through the Panama Canal,
0:08:20 > 0:08:24it had to fit through that, but it had to be tough enough, strong enough
0:08:24 > 0:08:29and big enough to handle the Atlantic, when it got rough because even in the summer you get storms.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32And the demands of being both a cruise ship
0:08:32 > 0:08:36and a transatlantic liner, would define how the new ship would look.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41As QE2 was to be a combined ocean liner and cruise ship,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44she should have a kind of yacht-like appearance.
0:08:44 > 0:08:51She was also going to be somewhat smaller than the existing Cunard flagships but taller as well.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56So it was very important that she wouldn't appear top heavy.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01Therefore the hull lines, the paintwork, the superstructure
0:09:01 > 0:09:05details had to be very, very carefully thought through.
0:09:05 > 0:09:11In the summer of 1964, Cunard put the construction of the ship out to tender.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15All the big shipyards of the day were invited to pitch for the work.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20Among them, the famous names of Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Cammell Laird in Liverpool,
0:09:20 > 0:09:26Swan Hunter on the Tyne and the troubled John Brown's shipyard on the Clyde.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30John Brown's bid was typical of a contractor who was struggling.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35It was cheaper than everybody else's and it turned out that there was actually no profit margin,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38and that's a problem for any big project if there's no profit margin.
0:09:38 > 0:09:44People always underestimate costs so there's always a budgetary issue at the back of it.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48And the second thing was that John Brown's put in a bid for completion
0:09:48 > 0:09:52in May '68, when everybody else had put in a bid for about November '68.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57So they were up against timescale problems and budgetary problems right from day one.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Construction began on the new vessel in 1965.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04In engineering terms, the ship introduced many innovations.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09The most controversial was to build the entire superstructure out of aluminium.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13The decision to use aluminium in the way they did as a big structural...
0:10:13 > 0:10:17It was part of the structural strength of the ship,
0:10:17 > 0:10:19was a big, big call.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23My Dad's neck was on the block if it hadn't worked.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26He knew it was going to shorten the life of the ship
0:10:26 > 0:10:29because aluminium has a limited life just as it does on aeroplanes.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33But it's lasted 40 years and it's done pretty well.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43But it wasn't just the radical use of new materials that caught the imagination.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48The ship was designed to take people's breath away.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54The QE2 has got the most magnificent bow profile.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57The ship has got extremely elegant hull lines.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01Because, of course, she was primarily an ocean liner.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06She had to cut through the water as efficiently as possible and with as little motion as possible.
0:11:06 > 0:11:13So she's got a very slender entry and then the bow soars up towards the forward mooring deck.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18She's got a whale back above that, that is to say that the lines of the bow sweep up
0:11:18 > 0:11:23towards the superstructure creating a kind of knife-edge sheer
0:11:23 > 0:11:27which gives her a very dynamic appearance.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29She is very symmetrical.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32The proportions are brilliant.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36However she was designed, and I'm sure it took years of preparation,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39the lines and the symmetry they do hold you,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42they are pleasing, they put you at ease.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44With symmetry, it's a way of nature saying,
0:11:44 > 0:11:46"All is well with the world".
0:11:46 > 0:11:50The wonderful thing, I think, about the QE2 is its shape.
0:11:50 > 0:11:57It's immediately recognisable and it immediately says... "cruise liner"
0:11:57 > 0:12:03as opposed to so many of the holiday cruise ships,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06which really are just floating tower blocks.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Whereas the QE2 had those beautiful lines,
0:12:10 > 0:12:15the kind of lines that you could quite see a yacht designer
0:12:15 > 0:12:19sitting down at a desk drawing what, for him or her,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23was the perfection of shape to cut through the water.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26FOG HORN SOUNDS
0:12:29 > 0:12:32At noon our position was 46 degrees,
0:12:32 > 0:12:3640 minutes north and 007 degrees 37 minutes west,
0:12:36 > 0:12:41which places us some 265 nautical miles west
0:12:41 > 0:12:43of the French port of La Rochelle.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Among the 1,700 passengers on board
0:12:48 > 0:12:53are QE2 die-hards Bob Andrews and Frances Spires.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59For them, the final voyage is a chance to look back over a 20-year love affair with the ship.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03My first feeling was I felt so proud that I was going to be on her
0:13:03 > 0:13:07because she does look like a Queen, in my opinion.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11Her lines are beautiful, she's just stunning and every time you see her
0:13:11 > 0:13:15if you go ashore and you see her sitting there, I get goose bumps.
0:13:15 > 0:13:21It makes you feel proud to look back at her and think, "Gosh, I'm on that".
0:13:21 > 0:13:27We affectionately call her "the old rust-bucket" but it's just a colloquial thing we use,
0:13:27 > 0:13:32but she's far from that. Everyone bangs on about the new ships
0:13:32 > 0:13:36that have super swimming pools and all the rest of it.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41When we first came on here it had about five pools and they've removed all but two of them now
0:13:41 > 0:13:47but having said that, it's still a wonderful, wonderful ship and it's a real class liner.
0:13:47 > 0:13:55Bob runs his own sawmill and Frances is a former world Latin American dance champion.
0:13:55 > 0:14:01It's their 42nd voyage, and like many of the QE2 regulars, it's an experience they never tire of.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07They're seasoned travellers and they know all her discreet charms.
0:14:07 > 0:14:14On this ship, you can sunbathe aft so when you're sailing, particularly on sea days,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18when you're sailing, if you're laying there out on deck,
0:14:18 > 0:14:24you can see the wake and you can see the movement of her stern
0:14:24 > 0:14:29and it's just fabulous, just laying there just simply watching that.
0:14:29 > 0:14:36As well as the beautiful lines of the ship, the original interiors were just as stunning.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40The accommodation was of a standard never seen before on a British liner.
0:14:40 > 0:14:46'The moment you enter the world of QE2, you're conscious that this is an altogether different ship.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48'There's colour...'
0:14:52 > 0:14:54'..style...'
0:14:57 > 0:15:00We associate cruises with middle-aged cheese
0:15:00 > 0:15:05with some kind of cheesy easy-listening crooners being on it.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09And then everything about the whole way that the QE2 was presented
0:15:09 > 0:15:11was clearly done with real design savvy
0:15:11 > 0:15:16from the designers they chose who were at the cutting edge and world famous designers too,
0:15:16 > 0:15:22using Conran fabrics to actually thinking about the user in a way
0:15:22 > 0:15:26that we don't often. Even today we struggle to think about the users.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28This ship was a radical change.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32It really was a ship of the 60s and the marketing slogan in the 60s
0:15:32 > 0:15:36when the ship came out was, "Ships have been boring too long"
0:15:36 > 0:15:38and there's a picture of the QE2.
0:15:38 > 0:15:45And it really was a massive step forward so it was the first modern passenger liner in the world.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50But for the new ship to get to this stage she first had to go
0:15:50 > 0:15:53through a painful and disruptive construction period.
0:15:53 > 0:15:59Delays, strikes and technical challenges made for a painful birth.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03There were a lot of difficulties at that yard at the time.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07There were a lot of difficulties in the British shipbuilding industry.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11First of all, there were so many different trades.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15And there were a lot of minor labour disputes and when one trade was in dispute
0:16:15 > 0:16:19the other trades couldn't get at the work that they were supposed to do
0:16:19 > 0:16:20and that sort of thing.
0:16:20 > 0:16:26Furthermore, I think one has to recognise that many of the men knew
0:16:26 > 0:16:30that when the ship was finished there wouldn't be any more jobs.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34John Brown's didn't have a very big order book
0:16:34 > 0:16:40and they... were not anxious to finish the job.
0:16:40 > 0:16:46The shipyard admitted in early 1967 that the new ship was already six months behind schedule.
0:16:46 > 0:16:53In the summer of that year, all the major trades working on the new ship went on strike.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56It was disastrous for Cunard and for the Government.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01I remember going up at five o'clock one morning in the shipyard and some
0:17:01 > 0:17:03question of absenteeism was raised
0:17:03 > 0:17:07and one guy shouted at me, "Well, if you had to work in the cold,
0:17:07 > 0:17:13"early in the morning in January with no covered place to do your work, you'd have the same problem"
0:17:13 > 0:17:16and it was a very valid point, you see.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21The Trade Unions were made up of very, very skilled people and were treated...
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Well, really ignored, or when anything happened
0:17:24 > 0:17:28they were the cause of the trouble and it made me very angry, that.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32What people don't realise or don't emphasise, QE2 was built by the workforce,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35it wasn't built by the managing directors, or by the bank,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39or by the Government, and these guys were the most highly skilled people
0:17:39 > 0:17:44in the world and very little reference has been made in the coverage to the steel workers,
0:17:44 > 0:17:50the welders, the shipwrights, the people who actually built the ship.
0:17:50 > 0:17:56Despite the setbacks, the new ship was launched on September 20th 1967.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Launch days were like Hogmanay.
0:17:59 > 0:18:05When the QE2 was launched there were parties in the streets,
0:18:05 > 0:18:08people were simply delighted that they'd got the ship
0:18:08 > 0:18:12to the appropriate level of completion for launching on time.
0:18:12 > 0:18:19Now up until that point she was known under her code name of Q4
0:18:19 > 0:18:25and there was great anticipation as to what the ship would eventually be named.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37Because she was a direct replacement for the retired Queen Elizabeth
0:18:37 > 0:18:41the decision had been taken to also call the new ship Queen Elizabeth.
0:18:41 > 0:18:47However when the time for the naming ceremony arrived, Her Majesty surprised everyone.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51I name this ship Queen Elizabeth the second.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55Some people in Scotland weren't particularly happy about that
0:18:55 > 0:19:01because of course our present Queen is only Queen Elizabeth the first, north of the border.
0:19:01 > 0:19:06May God bless her and all who sail in her.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09But Cunard got round this situation
0:19:09 > 0:19:12simply by giving the vessel the number two in Arabic,
0:19:12 > 0:19:18so she became the QE2, Queen Elizabeth 2, much more modern and much more snappy.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53As the newly-christened QE2 slipped into the Clyde
0:19:53 > 0:19:59she carried the hopes of Cunard and their attempts to revolutionise the passenger liner industry.
0:20:00 > 0:20:0340 years on, it's fair to say
0:20:03 > 0:20:05that the experiment was a resounding success.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10'A very good morning, ladies and gentlemen,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12'this is the officer of the watch speaking from the bridge.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15'This is to advise all passengers on the open deck
0:20:15 > 0:20:17'that in approximately two minutes time,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19'the ship's whistles will be sounded to indicate noon.'
0:20:28 > 0:20:33It's a beautiful morning in Lisbon for the QE2's first port of call on her final voyage.
0:20:33 > 0:20:40For Captain McNaught and his crew, it's a time of intense concentration as they guide the 70,000 tonne ship
0:20:40 > 0:20:44through a delicate yet graceful manoeuvre to her berth on the quayside.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48The pilot boat will come out and then he'll embark on the port side.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Once he's on board we'll speed up a little bit to about eight or nine knots
0:20:51 > 0:20:56and we'll make our way to the centre of the bridge where you can see the tugs waiting for us.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59After we've gone underneath the bridge, because it's a flood tide,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03we'll turn the ship round in the middle of the river and then come back onto the berth
0:21:03 > 0:21:05which is just on the other side of the bridge.
0:21:10 > 0:21:16The Master of the QE2, Captain Ian McNaught, has been with Cunard for nearly 22 years.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21He's been the ship's captain since 2003.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26There is no day when you think, "Oh, gosh, I wish I wasn't here",
0:21:26 > 0:21:29I don't think that ever happens, to be honest.
0:21:29 > 0:21:36So I think people do hold this ship in great esteem and in great fondness as well
0:21:36 > 0:21:41and they've seen it from its birth and here it is at the end of its working career as a liner,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44so I think there is this nostalgia for it.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50Each time QE2 puts into port, it's a big event.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54People all over the world are attracted by the beautiful lines of the ship.
0:21:54 > 0:22:01And it's always been that way, ever since her first transatlantic voyage to New York back in 1969.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05She made that first crossing in just a little over four days
0:22:05 > 0:22:08and a flotilla of small craft were waiting to greet
0:22:08 > 0:22:12the new queen of the seas as she was escorted to her berth.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16New York Mayor John Lindsay declared it QE2 Day in the city
0:22:16 > 0:22:19and the love affair with this beautiful ship had begun.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22MUSIC: "20th Century Boy" by T Rex
0:22:22 > 0:22:24# Ow!
0:22:31 > 0:22:34# Ah!
0:22:38 > 0:22:40# Friends say it's fine
0:22:40 > 0:22:42# Friends say it's good
0:22:42 > 0:22:46# Everybody says it's just like Rock and Roll
0:22:46 > 0:22:49# Ah!
0:22:49 > 0:22:52# Ah!
0:22:52 > 0:22:54# I move like a cat
0:22:54 > 0:22:56# Charge like a ram
0:22:56 > 0:22:58# Sting like a bee
0:22:58 > 0:23:01# Babe, I wanna be your man... #
0:23:02 > 0:23:05The QE2 attracted stars from the beginning.
0:23:05 > 0:23:13Peter Sellers, Lynn Redgrave and Ringo Starr were among the first big names to get on board.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15Later, David Bowie, Rod Stewart
0:23:15 > 0:23:21and Hollywood legend Tony Curtis all sampled the QE2 experience.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23I enjoyed the ship itself.
0:23:23 > 0:23:30I remember going on little tours of it, we'd be in the hallways
0:23:30 > 0:23:34of the corridors at topside and first class,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37beautiful finished wood, you know,
0:23:37 > 0:23:44polished every day and then we'd go on one section that went down some stairs...
0:23:45 > 0:23:49..then another hallway, then some more stairs
0:23:49 > 0:23:53and the next thing you know you could tell the difference of the class.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57It's quintessentially English, it's almost snobby in the sense
0:23:57 > 0:24:03there's a deck for people who pay a certain amount of money, a deck for people who pay and then below deck.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Whereas if you go on most modern liners you all dine
0:24:06 > 0:24:09in six or seven dining rooms but they're for everybody.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12So in that way it's a very British ship.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15The upper classes, the middle classes and the lower classes,
0:24:15 > 0:24:20they clearly still believe in. However much you laugh about it, they still believe in it.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23One of the things that created the passion on the QE2
0:24:23 > 0:24:27by people who've been repeat visitors year in and year out,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29is the fact that when they went on board,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32you know, it was like joining a family.
0:24:32 > 0:24:39And they had this remarkable ability for either knowing your name or quickly remembering your name.
0:24:39 > 0:24:45So they would greet you as though you were coming back into a rather exclusive club.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47That's what it was in many ways.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52I don't think you can help but feel proud to be British
0:24:52 > 0:24:57with something that is so beautiful, so iconic,
0:24:57 > 0:25:02so... perfect in every way.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07From a passenger's point of view there are so many things that made the QE2 perfection.
0:25:07 > 0:25:13From an engineer's point of view it made it perfection, they did something that was very very special.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18The man charged with ensuring that all the celebrities who sample the pleasures of the QE2
0:25:18 > 0:25:22have a five star stay is hotel manager, John Duffy.
0:25:22 > 0:25:23Good evening.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26He has been on the QE2 for 27 years.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29This is the top suite.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34People in the past who have stayed up here are people like Rod Stewart,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37quite regularly on transatlantics,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41David Bowie, George C Scott, Dean Martin and his entourage stayed up here.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45It's a very exclusive area, it's not a walk-through area at all,
0:25:45 > 0:25:50so it's very, very quiet and passengers can be very much alone up here.
0:25:50 > 0:25:57Up in the penthouses we have butler service and obviously it's a very personalised service up here
0:25:57 > 0:26:01which can include unpacking, packing facilities for the guests
0:26:01 > 0:26:05and just about on-call all the day for whatever the guest requires.
0:26:05 > 0:26:11If we go through here, it's a private dining area if guests so wish
0:26:11 > 0:26:16and up the stairs here, we have a lounge area
0:26:16 > 0:26:21and a winter garden and out to the forward balcony.
0:26:21 > 0:26:28The ship itself is so loved by so many people that going around the ship you can feel
0:26:28 > 0:26:32how the passengers are feeling very sad at this time
0:26:32 > 0:26:37because it's going. This is where they've always come to for their vacations, for their holidays.
0:26:37 > 0:26:43For some of them it's even been their winter home, they've done the world cruise year after year after year,
0:26:43 > 0:26:47and the fact that it's going is very emotional really to these people.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54FOG HORN SOUNDS
0:26:59 > 0:27:04'This is the bridge. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, in approximately 15 minutes' time,
0:27:04 > 0:27:11'all water-tight doors on decks five, six, seven and eight will be closed for testing purposes.'
0:27:12 > 0:27:17As her career progressed, the QE2 became a very traditional ocean liner
0:27:17 > 0:27:24and one of her most eagerly awaited events happens every afternoon at precisely 4 o'clock.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27There's places in the world which are famous for afternoon tea,
0:27:27 > 0:27:33Reid's in Madeira, The Ritz in London and the QE2 at sea.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36We probably do... in fact I know we do far more
0:27:36 > 0:27:41than they do because we can do about 1,000 on any one afternoon at sea.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46But it's still very well served and very well presented and passengers really do love it.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50At four o'clock or just about,
0:27:50 > 0:27:56the doors are opened and they're allowed to come in and they come in with their trays, white gloves,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59with their trays, come along, say, "Hello" to you,
0:27:59 > 0:28:04"Good afternoon, how are you today? Would you like tea, coffee?"
0:28:04 > 0:28:11Off they go out the back and come along with their teapots and then they come to you and you pass
0:28:11 > 0:28:17them your cup, or they will actually go and pick your cup up for you, fill your cup, back on the table.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20They serve all the hot drinks first
0:28:20 > 0:28:26and then they'll come round with the platters of sandwiches.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32And then after that, there's the delicious cakes.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34HER HUSBAND LAUGHS
0:28:34 > 0:28:37- The too-delicious cakes. - Not forgetting the scones.
0:28:37 > 0:28:43Not forgetting the scones with the jam which most people have to have,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47and the cakes change, every day there's something different.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Their job is to make you relaxed and at ease
0:28:57 > 0:29:01and to enjoy the whole afternoon tea experience.
0:29:01 > 0:29:07Although life on the QE2 is all about elegance, grace and endless pampering for the passengers,
0:29:07 > 0:29:11it hasn't been like that through her entire career.
0:29:11 > 0:29:18In 1982, life for the ocean liner changed dramatically as she received a signal to return to Southampton
0:29:18 > 0:29:21for a completely different sort of mission.
0:29:21 > 0:29:26"Your vessel, Queen Elizabeth 2, is requisitioned by the Secretary of State for Trade
0:29:26 > 0:29:29"under the Requisitioning of Ships order 1982
0:29:29 > 0:29:34"and you are accordingly required to place her at his disposal forthwith."
0:29:34 > 0:29:38Six weeks into the Falklands Conflict, with the country relying
0:29:38 > 0:29:41on her speed and potential as a troop carrier,
0:29:41 > 0:29:45the QE2 was taken out of commercial service and sent to war.
0:29:45 > 0:29:50I don't think requisitioning the QE2 was as big a deal then
0:29:50 > 0:29:53as it is thought to be now.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57But it still caused some comment,
0:29:57 > 0:29:59not least by Margaret Thatcher.
0:29:59 > 0:30:06She, I think, was rather surprised and not perhaps best pleased
0:30:06 > 0:30:12when she discovered that the military felt that they hadn't got enough troops down there.
0:30:12 > 0:30:18She'd always been worried whether we'd have enough troops and equipment to do the job.
0:30:18 > 0:30:24They came to her and said, "We really have to reinforce, and quickly,
0:30:24 > 0:30:29"and we're proposing to take up the QE2 from trade", as the phrase has it.
0:30:29 > 0:30:36She does say in her memoirs that she did query whether it was wise to send such
0:30:36 > 0:30:42a prominent and well-known and indeed you might say beloved ship
0:30:42 > 0:30:45down on a military mission.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48All future sailings were cancelled by Cunard,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51as there was no way of predicting how long the conflict might last.
0:30:51 > 0:30:59Work began immediately on transforming the famous ocean liner into a troop ship.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01They chopped big parts of the stern off
0:31:01 > 0:31:05to accommodate helicopter landing platforms,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07which were lifted on and welded in place.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10On the foredeck, we had a helicopter landing platform as well.
0:31:10 > 0:31:15We loaded hundreds and hundreds of tonnes of ammunition down in the foredeck.
0:31:15 > 0:31:22We built a secret radio room for the intelligence reports coming in from Whitehall.
0:31:22 > 0:31:28We covered over the carpets with hardboard, took a lot of the valuables away.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32They even took the caviar away. I don't know why, but they did.
0:31:35 > 0:31:393,000 soldiers boarded the QE2 for the journey to the South Atlantic.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Some of them would not return.
0:31:41 > 0:31:46For others, it would change the rest of their lives.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52I can't actually remember the point at which we found out
0:31:52 > 0:31:56we were gonna be sailing to the Falklands on the QE2,
0:31:56 > 0:31:59apart from when we arrived in Southampton.
0:31:59 > 0:32:04There was this huge ship, huge to us, because we'd only been involved
0:32:04 > 0:32:10with military ships at this point and we'd never seen anything of the size or of the majestic beauty of her.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13She really was a lovely ship to behold.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31The QE2 set sail from Southampton on May 12th 1982.
0:32:31 > 0:32:36She took just 16 days to reach her destination in the South Atlantic.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39You didn't have an awful lot of free time until the evenings
0:32:39 > 0:32:46because obviously, if you give soldiers too much free time, they'll get up to mischief... and we did,
0:32:46 > 0:32:54I suppose. We found where the beer was all hidden and found an access to that and a way back again,
0:32:54 > 0:33:01which upset a lot of people, because blokes were getting drunk then, and that always can lead to problems.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06But, on the whole, our time was filled and we were never that bored
0:33:06 > 0:33:10and we had a pretty good time going down.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14More than 70% of QE2's crew volunteered to go with the ship.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18Used to serving passengers, they now found themselves going to war.
0:33:18 > 0:33:23I think the Argentines were looking for us, definitely.
0:33:23 > 0:33:28As luck has it, when we moved on down to South Georgia, a lot of cloud
0:33:28 > 0:33:33and fog came in so we were lucky we weren't seen from the skies.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36We wasn't allowed to use radar
0:33:36 > 0:33:40because they could pick up the signal and recognise who we was,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44so we actually went through ice fields without radar.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50And everybody rushed outside. It was freezing cold outside,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53but everybody's standing there in sweatshirts.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56You're just looking at these wonderful...
0:33:56 > 0:34:01They're almost these ice cathedrals and they were crystal blue.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03It was just spectacular.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07You sailed through in millpond calm. The only thing making waves was us.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11But the reality of the war left those in charge under no illusions
0:34:11 > 0:34:15as to just how serious a target the QE2 was.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19I'm sure that if the Argentine had sunk
0:34:19 > 0:34:22and if they could have done, my guess is they would,
0:34:22 > 0:34:26but I don't think they had the resources once the Belgrano had gone.
0:34:26 > 0:34:31If they could have sunk it, they'd have received a boost,
0:34:31 > 0:34:34but that was the risk that had to be taken.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39As the QE2 neared her destination, the war raged in the South Atlantic.
0:34:39 > 0:34:44In a four-day period towards the end of May, three British ships,
0:34:44 > 0:34:49HMS Ardent, Antelope and Coventry, were all sunk,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51with heavy loss of life.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55It was now time for Simon and the soldiers from the QE2
0:34:55 > 0:34:58to play their part in the conflict.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03We got the shout, "Everybody back to their rooms! Get your kit together!"
0:35:03 > 0:35:06Then we were told we were disembarking.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10We were gonna jump off the QE2, which is easy when it's going like that.
0:35:10 > 0:35:15You judge jumping down onto something coming up to meet you, is relatively straightforward.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20Doing it the other way round, jumping off something, going into another vehicle... totally different.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25We had our rucksacks, in military parlance, Bergens, and we jumped through the door.
0:35:25 > 0:35:31The idea was to catch hold of the rope strop that was hanging down and swing yourself in,
0:35:31 > 0:35:36but I missed that and it caught the back of my Bergen and threw me back out the doorway.
0:35:36 > 0:35:37HE LAUGHS
0:35:37 > 0:35:41It's one of those moments when your life starts to flash before your eyes!
0:35:41 > 0:35:46This wonderful big marine who was standing there, I've no idea who he was,
0:35:46 > 0:35:51caught hold of my webbing and pulled me back through the doorway.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56It was at that point that I was willing to French kiss a marine.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Never before, never since, but it was at that point.
0:35:59 > 0:36:00It was a very nervous moment
0:36:00 > 0:36:05because there was no way I would have survived. I'd have gone into the water.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09We had three minutes maximum in those freezing waters. I'd have been dead.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15Three weeks after arriving in the Falklands,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18Simon Weston was caught up in one of the worst attacks
0:36:18 > 0:36:21on British soldiers during the conflict.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27The troop ship Sir Galahad was bombed in Bluff Cove.
0:36:27 > 0:36:32Simon suffered 49% burns and very nearly died.
0:36:36 > 0:36:42It was just a very, very poignant moment of history for Britain,
0:36:42 > 0:36:47because it was our land, fought for, and the war was won.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55And I just think that the QE2's part in it was immense
0:36:55 > 0:36:56and she...
0:36:58 > 0:37:05..she'll be sadly missed by a lot of the people who went on her, certainly the boys who sailed on her to war...
0:37:05 > 0:37:11because it holds our last real abiding memories of our friends.
0:37:11 > 0:37:16So the luxury liner returns from war, carrying hundreds of survivors
0:37:16 > 0:37:20from three British warships sunk in the South Atlantic.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23Just as she was the perfect solution for getting troops
0:37:23 > 0:37:29down to the war zone, the QE2 also became the ideal way of getting some of the casualties back to Britain.
0:37:29 > 0:37:35The world's most famous liner had survived the war and was now on her way home.
0:37:35 > 0:37:41On 11th June, as she passed the Needles lighthouse on the Isle of Wight, the Royal Yacht Britannia
0:37:41 > 0:37:48came alongside, with the Queen Mother standing on deck to welcome back both the troops and the ship.
0:37:48 > 0:37:54It was absolutely incredible to have the Queen Mother come up the river
0:37:54 > 0:37:56with us and the Royal Yacht.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59You know, it doesn't normally happen!
0:37:59 > 0:38:02CHEERING
0:38:05 > 0:38:11Well, the amount of heads bobbing up and down, you couldn't see a spare space anywhere on the shore.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16It was completely covered with bodies and heads and waving flags.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19I mean, it was really outstanding.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23Shortly after returning home, it became apparent that the QE2's
0:38:23 > 0:38:26exertions in the South Atlantic had taken its toll.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35After the Falklands War, of course, she had severe mechanical problems.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39During her Falklands service, she'd been driven exceptionally hard.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44By the mid-1980s, she was somewhat unreliable.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48She suffered numerous mechanical breakdowns.
0:38:48 > 0:38:53So the decision was taken that she should be re-engined instead as a diesel electric ship.
0:38:53 > 0:39:00On October 20th 1986, the QE2 made her final voyage as a steam liner.
0:39:00 > 0:39:07Crossing the Atlantic, she was Cunard's final link in 146 years of steam-powered ships.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11The QE2's powerful steam turbines had taken her a total
0:39:11 > 0:39:17of over 2.5 million miles, equivalent to 120 times around the world.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27'We are currently on a course of 110 degrees,
0:39:27 > 0:39:29'making a good speed of 25.5 knots.
0:39:29 > 0:39:35'Throughout the rest of the day and evening, we expect to maintain our current south-easterly course,
0:39:35 > 0:39:40'making our way across the southern Mediterranean towards Egypt and Alexandria.'
0:39:40 > 0:39:44As the QE2 makes her way south across the Mediterranean Sea,
0:39:44 > 0:39:48the busiest part of the ship is in full swing.
0:39:48 > 0:39:54The kitchens on the QE2 turn out a staggering 7,000 meals a day,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57prepared by over 100 chefs.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01It's amazing, you know, how smooth this goes.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04There's no screaming, no shouting.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06We do not shout and scream here.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09It's the wrong way to go. Everybody's concentrated.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11If you need something, you speak to the chef.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28The passengers or guests should not suffer for whatever reason.
0:40:28 > 0:40:34If he turns around and says, "I've changed my mind from the sirloin steak. I want the salmon"...
0:40:34 > 0:40:39It happens quite often. The passenger looks at the menu and says, "Give me the steak."
0:40:39 > 0:40:42Then the other passenger has the salmon.
0:40:42 > 0:40:48"That looks good! I should have chosen the salmon."
0:40:48 > 0:40:51The waiter says, "It's not a problem".
0:40:51 > 0:40:53He says, "I need urgently a salmon".
0:40:59 > 0:41:05Here you can see the flow. There's the sous-chef here, then the order comes in.
0:41:05 > 0:41:11The vegetable, that comes this, then comes the meat, and it moves on more and then it goes out there.
0:41:11 > 0:41:17So you have a flow. It really is a line service. That's what we do.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21Doing 7,000-8,000 meals a day, you need to know what you're doing.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23How much have you done so far?
0:41:23 > 0:41:25- 298.- Already?
0:41:25 > 0:41:28- Yes.- Wow! OK.
0:41:28 > 0:41:34The real challenge for Bernhard is that this is fine dining at sea.
0:41:34 > 0:41:41So, when the QE2 hits stormy weather, he knows exactly what to expect from his chefs and waiters.
0:41:41 > 0:41:48If you work on a ship and you are employed, you're a crew member, you're not seasick. It doesn't exist.
0:41:48 > 0:41:55You took a job on board and obviously the ship is moving, so you cannot say, "Sorry, I'm seasick".
0:41:55 > 0:41:59You have to go and work in a hotel shore side or something.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02But it's not a big deal, really, no.
0:42:10 > 0:42:15For me as a chef, it looks like very well-organised chaos,
0:42:15 > 0:42:18but that's what it should be, you know?
0:42:26 > 0:42:30The food is exceptional and the service is exceptional.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34You're served by the same person, who takes care of you and who,
0:42:34 > 0:42:37over a period of two weeks or ten days, you really get to know.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39It's more like a family.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42You're all part of a big family.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44The evening meal is the highlight of the day.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47We've got a lovely table, nice people.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51On this ship, of course, it's pretty well collar and tie every night,
0:42:51 > 0:42:53DJs probably for half the cruise.
0:42:53 > 0:42:59If you wish to dine in a proper dining room or dining hall, you have to dress for dinner.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02The food they served me was nice enough.
0:43:02 > 0:43:08The waiter would come and put down and stand above me and they had
0:43:08 > 0:43:13the menu and I'd say, "I'd like a corned beef sandwich
0:43:13 > 0:43:17"with a Pepsi cola and some apple pie".
0:43:18 > 0:43:22Then he'd go away and come back, or a supervisor would come back
0:43:22 > 0:43:27and say, "Mr Curtis, we don't have any corned beef sandwiches."
0:43:27 > 0:43:29I'd say, "What have you got?"
0:43:29 > 0:43:32He'd say, "We don't serve sandwiches".
0:43:32 > 0:43:37Each time I went to sit down, I made a little game of it.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40They enjoyed it and I did too.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42FOG HORN SOUNDS
0:43:48 > 0:43:52'At noon, our position was 33 degrees, 28 minutes north
0:43:52 > 0:43:58'and 22 degrees, 33 minutes east, which places us 38 nautical miles
0:43:58 > 0:43:59'north of the Libyan coast.'
0:44:09 > 0:44:16One of the highlights of the QE2's final voyage to Dubai, is negotiating the Suez Canal.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21She begins her slow passage at dawn, as she makes her way
0:44:21 > 0:44:24from the Mediterranean through to the Red Sea.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27It's just over 100 miles long,
0:44:27 > 0:44:32so it's a leisurely trip that takes most of the day.
0:44:32 > 0:44:39'Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is the captain speaking from the bridge. Welcome to the Suez Canal.
0:44:39 > 0:44:45'I'm pleased to say that, having made good speed on passage from Alexandria and arriving promptly
0:44:45 > 0:44:49'at the canal limit at 2.30 this morning, we were given permission
0:44:49 > 0:44:52'to join the first southbound convoy of the day.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57'And by 12.30, we should take up position astern of the French
0:44:57 > 0:45:03'navy ship Jean De Vienne, a guided missile destroyer, and the two of us will lead the transit for the final
0:45:03 > 0:45:10'40 kilometres of the canal, hopefully clearing the canal at around teatime.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14'We will update you on our progress, should anything change
0:45:14 > 0:45:19'later on in the morning but, for now, enjoy the scenery of the Suez Canal.'
0:45:38 > 0:45:42'Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and another glorious day at sea
0:45:42 > 0:45:45'as we head east-north-east towards the Arabian Sea.
0:45:45 > 0:45:50'Please take great care if you are outside in the sun but do enjoy the conditions
0:45:50 > 0:45:57'at the same time and just remember, back in the UK, it's snowing, heavy frosts and minus temperatures.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00'Aren't we lucky to be here, on QE2?'
0:46:00 > 0:46:07As the QE2 reaches the coast of Somalia, the on-board security team are quietly on alert.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11A supertanker had been hijacked by Somali pirates a few days earlier.
0:46:11 > 0:46:16These waters are now among the most dangerous in the world.
0:46:16 > 0:46:21As the passengers have fun in the sun, the security team keep a keen eye on the ocean.
0:46:21 > 0:46:26We sit down, have a look at the area and decide on a plan of action that we're going to
0:46:26 > 0:46:32execute while we transit through that area but, in reality, if we look at the trend, they've
0:46:32 > 0:46:35all been slow-moving merchant vessels with a low freeboard.
0:46:35 > 0:46:42The QE2, it's got the speed, it's got the height above the water, so we're a very low risk, really.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47Even so, the crew of the QE2 are taking no chances.
0:46:47 > 0:46:53Special high-intensity audio devices are fitted for extra security.
0:46:55 > 0:47:01We certainly would be an interesting prize, the premier cruise ship of the world, the QE2.
0:47:01 > 0:47:07It would be spectacular but they wouldn't have much of a chance of getting on board the ship,
0:47:07 > 0:47:09never mind keeping up with it.
0:47:09 > 0:47:11We are being watched from afar.
0:47:11 > 0:47:12Help is at hand.
0:47:12 > 0:47:17There's always a little concern in the back of our minds.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21The safety of the passengers and crew must be my prime concern at all times.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24That overrides everything in the ship.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28But we will make a safe passage, there's no doubt about it.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32Navigating her way through pirate seas off Somalia
0:47:32 > 0:47:36isn't the first time the QE2 has had her security threatened.
0:47:36 > 0:47:42In 1972, it was feared that the ship could become a target for terrorists.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45On the return leg of a transatlantic voyage,
0:47:45 > 0:47:50the QE2 had reached the midway point when the New York office of Cunard
0:47:50 > 0:47:56received a bomb threat so serious that the elite Special Boat Service,
0:47:56 > 0:47:58the SBS, were called in.
0:47:58 > 0:48:03The SBS got a call just before midday.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06I was told by my boss to go and look for two people
0:48:06 > 0:48:09to parachute to a ship at sea.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13About an hour later, we were taken out to an aircraft with
0:48:13 > 0:48:19its propellers burning and turning, and there we met Robert Williams with his large pile of equipment.
0:48:19 > 0:48:24We were bundled into the aircraft and, when we took off, we were told
0:48:24 > 0:48:29we were going on a four and a half hour flight to the QE2, mid-Atlantic.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34The crew had searched the ship.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39They had come up with six packages which coincided exactly
0:48:39 > 0:48:41with what the claim was.
0:48:41 > 0:48:46Then we needed to find out as much detail about the ship as possible.
0:48:46 > 0:48:52The Cunard office had been told that there were two passengers on board
0:48:52 > 0:48:59who, when they got a coded message, would then initiate the bombs on board
0:48:59 > 0:49:01and they didn't mind if they died.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05Once they found her, the SBS team faced the difficult task of getting
0:49:05 > 0:49:09from the Hercules onto the QE2, and there was another problem.
0:49:09 > 0:49:14Bomb disposal expert Robert Williams had no formal training for parachute jumping.
0:49:14 > 0:49:19Coming down, one was extremely busy getting the harness free,
0:49:19 > 0:49:21so you can get out of it as soon as you hit the water.
0:49:21 > 0:49:28I believe all of us hit in the troughs, so we immediately went under and quite deep.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32Then the wave passed over us, so it actually went virtually black.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36We bobbed up. Richard was shouting,
0:49:36 > 0:49:39"Where are you?" I shouted, "Over here", and waved,
0:49:39 > 0:49:43but I didn't realise waving with two hands was an emergency signal.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47A launch was sent from the QE2 to pick up the men.
0:49:47 > 0:49:53Once on board, Robert Williams set about trying to establish if there really were bombs on the ship.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56The passengers had identified their baggage.
0:49:56 > 0:50:02However, there were still a few items that had not been identified.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05And Robert then went through the normal procedures
0:50:05 > 0:50:11and put a disruptor charge through the baggage and blew the cases open.
0:50:11 > 0:50:16Following the operation, the team established that the bomb threat had been a hoax.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20There were no bombs on board but it highlighted the fact
0:50:20 > 0:50:25that the QE2 was such a famous ship she was seen as a prime target.
0:50:32 > 0:50:38Back on board the final voyage, the passengers are preparing for the last leg of the QE2's amazing
0:50:38 > 0:50:4640 years at sea, before she begins her new life as a floating hotel in Dubai.
0:50:46 > 0:50:50I always feel sad when I have to get off this ship, because I don't want to get off,
0:50:50 > 0:50:53end of story, never have, from when I first came on her.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56I never want to end the holiday on here.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00I just don't want to get off. I want to stay on here for ever.
0:51:00 > 0:51:05So I'm gonna feel even worse. I don't know how I'm gonna feel.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07I know I'm gonna be very emotional.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10It's been part of our life, part of our heritage.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13Let's have a check, make sure you're all right...
0:51:13 > 0:51:18It's another era, isn't it? We're moving into a new era of cruising.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21We're losing the greatest cruise ship ever.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26It's not just a ship to us. It's...
0:51:26 > 0:51:27- A way of life.- Yeah.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30- It is.- Our second home.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38As the QE2 makes her way to Dubai, there are two other Cunard ships
0:51:38 > 0:51:41plying their trade around the world's oceans.
0:51:41 > 0:51:46The Queen Mary 2 is the flagship that has taken over QE2's transatlantic tasks.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50The other ship is the Queen Victoria.
0:51:50 > 0:51:57They'll be joined by a further cruise liner, the new Queen Elizabeth, in 2010.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00She'll be a true Cunard Queen. She'll be reminiscent of ocean
0:52:00 > 0:52:04liners of the past but with the modern conveniences of a new ship.
0:52:04 > 0:52:10She'll have double and triple height spaces, elegance and grandeur, wood and mosaics and marbles.
0:52:10 > 0:52:16She'll be a sister ship to Queen Victoria, but with some differences, to give her her own personality.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18She really will be another Cunard Queen.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27'Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32'Here we are on the final leg of our voyage to Dubai.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36'It is exactly 40 years to the day that this ship put to sea.
0:52:36 > 0:52:43'Wherever you sail in the future, I do hope you take special and happy memories of this great ship.
0:52:43 > 0:52:50'On that note, I shall wish you all a great stay in Dubai and a safe onward journey back home.'
0:52:50 > 0:52:56The QE2 has carried millions of passengers around the world in grace and style.
0:52:56 > 0:53:01After 40 years' service, the time has come to say goodbye.
0:53:01 > 0:53:06As she approaches her final destination, she is escorted
0:53:06 > 0:53:14into Dubai by a Royal Navy frigate and, just as on her first voyage, a flotilla of admirers.
0:53:15 > 0:53:20The QE2, for me, the memory will be elegance, style, class,
0:53:20 > 0:53:25and not all of the liners manage those three.
0:53:25 > 0:53:30I really enjoyed it. My father had a tailor's store.
0:53:30 > 0:53:32We lived in the back of a tailor's store.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34It was very primitive.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37So, to be on board the Queen, I should have been living
0:53:37 > 0:53:43in steerage, but there I was in first class and I loved it all.
0:53:43 > 0:53:49I think, the minute you walk onto the QE2, you get this feeling of glamour,
0:53:49 > 0:53:56of being cosseted, of... if you like, another era.
0:53:56 > 0:53:58There ain't another one like it.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01There isn't going to be another one like it.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03It's very, very special.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09The people of Dubai give the QE2 a big welcome, just as the people
0:54:09 > 0:54:13of Southampton had given her a big send-off 16 days earlier.
0:54:13 > 0:54:18The final party on board brings the QE2's life as an ocean liner
0:54:18 > 0:54:20to an emotional close.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27# For auld lang syne, my dear
0:54:27 > 0:54:33# For auld lang syne... #
0:54:33 > 0:54:38The day has come. She has served her purpose, she's served it very well.
0:54:38 > 0:54:43And it's good that she's going while she's still at the top of her profession.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46It is the last great British-built transatlantic liner.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48There'll never be another one.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06For Captain McNaught, there remains one final duty.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10As of 14.05 local meantime, Queen Elizabeth 2, Southampton,
0:55:10 > 0:55:13call sign Golf Bravo Tango Tango,
0:55:13 > 0:55:15was handed over to Nakheel Dubai
0:55:15 > 0:55:18and is now under the management of V Ships Monaco.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21All documents and certificates are in good order,
0:55:21 > 0:55:24the ship's articles are closed and this log book is now closed.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28Signed, Captain A McNaught, Master QE2.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30All gone.