RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH: God Save the Queen! (1940)

Cunard's RMS QUEEN MARY was undoubtedly one of the greatest superliners ever built, yet even in 1936 her traditional liner silhouette was seen as quite conservative. A critic might say she looked a decade older than the NORMANDIE that preceded her. Apparently some at Cunard must have taken such notions to heart. The RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH adopted a much cleaner, more modern aesthetic. She sported two internally braced funnels to MARY's three, her bow was more aggressively raked, and the forward well deck was omitted. While there was still a familial resemblance the two running mates would not be confused for one another. She was naturally a fast ship, but Cunard frowned upon "racing" the Queens so the Blue Riband remained with the MARY. She first entered service in 1940 -- but not as an ocean liner. She began her career as a troop transport in conjunction with the QUEEN MARY. In 1946 she finally began her career as a transatlantic superliner. The Queens were two of the most iconic passenger vessels the world has ever seen. Yet by the 1960s their high operating costs, and competition from jet aircraft, led to their retirement. We are lucky that the QUEEN MARY is still with us. Sadly, the QUEEN ELIZABETH burned and sank in Hong Kong during her conversion to a floating university. Her legacy lives on in the three new Cunard Queens and her old running mate: the RMS QUEEN MARY.