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Roots of qm2 goes back to Titanic's great heritage
  Posted on Sun 20 Feb 2005 (114943 reads)
Now, on this website you will note much debate about Titanic. In the history of things it is important to note that the RMS Titanic was not really classified as a cruise but the 3 sisters including Titanic Olympic and Britannic were setting the luxury standard if you would.

Most competition that White Star Line faced as a company was from rival liners that had faster ships with superior technology focusing on speed indeed.



As Thomas Henry Ismay had great relations to Harland & Wolff they received their first White Star order in mid 1869 for the construction of Oceanic.

As the competition became intense at the time; two years after the Oceanic was put into service in 1871, Sir Thomas Henry Ismay turned the drawing board upside down and astonished the competition of by putting down a new stance that was “Speed is not of much concern to me than Comfort is” an important ideology was that an Atlantic trip was mostly one way in nature at that time and it wouldn't matter if it took somewhat longer if plenty of comfort and luxury could be provided to tackle boredom and invent unique entertainment for those in the lower classes and entertain the first class at its best with a kin to royal service if you would imagine. Cruises of current time share the same idea as you can just as well step onto a plane.

Well, lets go back in time: White Star line was company under a complex holding structure at that time was one in 5 companies under the control “Ismay-Imrie and Company” which in turn were under the supervision of “Oceanic Steam Navigation Company” and the “International Mercantile Marine” the later being the top., later to be taken over by the company know today as Cunard Line headquartered at 24844 Avenue Rockefeller, Santa Clarita CA 91355 United States.

After the devastation of the Titanic tragedy which made it so famous in line with the blockbuster movie, White star faced numerous structural problems. Direct after the tragedy the productivity of the company declined sharply as many top executives and other class employees were called upon to testify before the panel at the Titanic Inquiry that was taking place in both the Britain and United States detailing every aspect of the tragedy from every witness they could find as there was no technology at the time to visit the wreck lying no less than 7 miles down. The tragedy however as many would believe, wasn't the end of Whitestar Line but rather, pretty much the end of Bruce Ismay as he planned to go on retirement before the tragedy but requested the IMM board to postpone it beleiving it could be sensed as bad intent, however the IMM board rejected Ismay's request and he retired. After all, the press suggested he went down with the ship as did Captain smith. However he survived to tell the tale. Some of these event also lead to the believe of the conspiracy that Titanic and Olympic were swapped which later a book was to be written about.


Marine regulation wasn't untouched by the findings of the panel. Today's liners have rescue boats cluttered all round the promenade deck, detailed and painted to match the deck they are on preventing unpleasant sights. Unfortunately Titanic's rescue boats placement was more of a visual concern than safety which explained the strong shortage in rescue boats following the tragedy.

White Star Line was affected more by the World War events whereby ships were borrowed by the state or destroyed by Germany's u-boats. Eventually out of World War the fleet was aging and many vessels far older than engineered and couldn't nearly be patched well enough to pass the annual sea worthiness inspections.
Another concern was that the lost war vessels were not accounted for. And the aging fleet had a heavy toll on the company's finances as ships were constantly undergoing rigorous maintenance work in dry docks while not in service.

The depression in both US and Europe were putting the toll on Cunard and Whitestar. The government would advance a cash amount of 9.1 million pounds on the condition that these two merge. After merging 1957 Cunard's name prevailed as they succeeded in erasing all obvious White Star trails.

In the years following, Cunard went into producing many queens, like the Queen Mary (QM), Queen Elizabeth (QE), Queen Elizabeth II (QE2), and Queen Mary II (QM2) 2004

Before the QM2 was even envisioned, after a decade of business for Cunard as an independent line, Carnival Corporation & PLC purchased the company. Carnival now owns most of the cruise lines available in the northern sea and Americas making them the largest shipping line in the world.

QM2 was added to the Cunard portfolio and marked as the biggest cruise ship in the world, dwarfing titanic in its shadow would they have been parked along side each other.

Cruise business proved to be lucrative for Carnival, a few set backs in US cruise operators involving flu were minor. In the past 2 years following QM2 service Carnival has advanced heavily on the stock markets. Leading to the believe that QM2 is here to stay.

QM2 followed Cunard's principles in design and comfort, with a space ratio of 57.25 makes qm2 the roomiest cruise in the world. Not to mention Sweeping staircases, soaring public rooms, a grand ball room, and a 360 degree promenade deck.

QM2 Southampton facts:
Operator: Cunard
Builders: Chantiers de l 'Atlantique
Keel laid: July 4th 2002
Enters service: January, 2004
Arrives Southampton for 1st time: Boxing Day 2003
Port of Registry: Southampton
Tonnage: 150,000 tons
Restaurants: no fewer than 10
Pools: 5
Decks: 19
Length: 1,132 feet / 345 metres
Beam: 135 feet / 41 meters
Beam at Bridge Wings: 148 feet / 45 metres
Draft: 32 feet ten inches / 10 metres
Height: 236 feet / 72 metres
Top Speed: Approximately 30 knots (34.5 mph)
Stabilizers: Two sets
Passengers: 2,620 (3,090 max)
Crew: 1,300
Speed: Approximately 30 knots
Cost: Estimated $800 million dollars
QM2 is the largest, longest, tallest, widest ocean liner ever
QM2 is five times longer than Cunard's first ship, Britannia (230 ft.)
QM2 has direct internet access to every stateroom
QM2 is 113 feet longer than the original Queen Mary
QM2's whistle will be audible for 10 miles
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