Never before seen Colour images of the QE2 discovered on eBay are to be unveiled at special 50th Anniversary Event held in Glasgow.
The 50th Anniversary of the 1969 entry into service of QE2 – perhaps the most famous ship ever built in Scotland – will be marked by a special event at Fairfield Heritage Centre in Govan on Saturday 4 May 2019.
We have added a selection of images here from our own archives here showing the construction and the launch in Clydebank in 1967. These black and white images are not part of the exhibition.
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The event has been organised by the QE2 Story Forum which is an online forum dedicated to keeping the story of this great ship alive and a highlight of the day will be the showing of never seen images of QE2, taken between 1967 and 1969, which were discovered on eBay.
Rob Lightbody, from the QE2 Story Forum, realised the historical importance of the collection and purchased the slides. “QE2 is probably the most photographed ship of all time so to unearth new images 10 years after her retirement is amazing. And to find new images from her build years is even more extraordinary. “This is a true historical record in every sense and it has been a privilege to not only have been the first person to inspect these in decades but to get them into a position to enable them to be displayed at the event which is something I am looking forward to doing!”
The ticket-only event will also include a tour of the PS Waverley at her berth, if circumstances allow, a presentation on shipping on the Clyde from the 1940s to 1970s and a special screening of ‘Magic Ride’, a film about QE2 at the time of her maiden voyage. Specials guests include maritime historian Ian Johnston and Professor of Architecture and Design Dr Bruce Peter.
For most of her almost 40 years in service (April 1969 – November 2008) QE2 was the most famous ship in the world being rarely far from the news, for good reason or bad. She became a strikingly potent symbol, recognised around the world, not just of all that is best in Britain, but of the enduring excellence of Scottish engineering.
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She sailed over five million nautical miles, more than any other ship ever, completed 25 full world cruises, and crossed the Atlantic, surely the world’s cruelest sea, over 800 times; yet her hull was as sound in 2008 as the day she first slipped into the waters of the Clyde four decades earlier.
QE2 was celebrated, acclaimed, revered and respected. QE2 was a phenomenon.
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