R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth

The R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth was constructed by John Brown and Company in Clydebank, Scotland and was launched on September 27th, 1938 and named in honor of Queen Elizabeth. She was the largest passenger shp every built at that time and was still for 56 more years. She entered service in March 1940 as a troop ship in World War II and was not put into commerical service until October of 1946. R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth dominated the transatlantic passenger trade for the Cunrad Line until their fortunes began to decline with the advent of the faster and more economical jet airliner in the late 1950s.

The Cunard line retired R.M.S. Queen Mary in 1967 and R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth completed her final Atlantic crossing to New York on November 5th,1968. The two liners were replaced with the new, more economical Queen Elizabeth 2. In late 1968, R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth was sold to the Elizabeth Corporation and renamed R.M.S. Elizabeth, with 15% of the company controlled by a group of Philadelphia businessmen and 85% retained by Cunard. The new company intended to operate the ship as a hotel and tourist attraction in Port Everglades, Florida. The ship was forced to close in August of 1970, after losing money and being declared a fire hazard. The vessel was sold at auction in 1970 to Hong Kong tycoon Tung Chao Yung. With £5 million of conversions nearing completion, the vessel caught fire on January 9th 1972. These fires were set deliberately, as several blazes broke out simultaneously throughout the ship and a later court of inquiry handed down a cause of arson by person or persons unknown. The ship was destroyed by the fire, and the water sprayed on her by fireboats caused the burnt wreck to sink in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour. The vessel was finally declared a shipping hazard and dismantled for scrap between December 1974 and 1975

• Length: 314.2 m (1,031ft)
• Beam: 36 m (118 ft)
• Draft: 11.8 m (38 ft 9 in)
• Propulsion: Quadruple single steam turbine engines, 4 shafts
• Speed: 28.5 knots (32-33 Mph)
• Capacity: 83,673 tons
• Occupancy: 2,283 passengers

Bertha Klein (Born: 1892) was on board of this vessel in May of 1953 traveling from New York to South Hampton, England.