QUEEN ELIZABETH

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 270, 27 August 1946, Page 3

QUEEN ELIZABETH

RE-EQUIPFED AS LUXURY LINER BID ON ATLANTIC RECORD LIKELY (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright.) LONDON, Aug. 26. Whether the Queen Elizabeth will establish a speed record when she sets out from Southampton on October 16 on her first Atlantic crossing as a passenger ship is now being debated. This giant 83,673 ton liner has been undergoing restoration from a trooper for the last six months and she will be completely reequipped by the time she goes on her trials on October 1.

“This is the wrong time of the year to break records,” said her captain, Commodore Sir James Bissett, “but I think it is possible she will equal the Queen Mary’s record of 31.69 knots. During the war the Queen Elizabeth averaged 30 knots except on one occasion when there was an explosion near us and we had to make a spurt. Then for a few hours we did 31 knots. Anyway my instructions are to take my passengers to New York and back as quickly and safely as possible.” During the war the Queen Elizabeth transported SOO,OOO troops. Sometimes she carried as many as 15,700 troops on one voyage. She will have accommodation for 2315 passengers. The accent is. on luxury in restoring her as a passenger liner. Decorative features include unique veneers and woods. The captain’s room is lined with elm obtained from piles driven under the old Waterloo Bridge in 1811. One comment, on her is that she is no longer a ship but has taken the aspect of a luxury neighbourhood unit. The general effect is of a hard cocktail bar beauty which would not suit all tastes but much of her polished light wood and tinted leather panelling, her glass, metal and inlaid wood decoration, her bronze statuary and luxurious furnishings is a superb example of craftsman’s skill and the artist’s inspiration. The ship is a monument to British craftsmanship and the luxury of her appearance is rivalled by her comfort. The amenities offered are far beyond anything to be found in a land-bound community of similar size. They include two swimming pools like Hollywood’s idea of ancient Rome, gymnasiums equipped with fearsome apparatus, deck tennis and squash courts, ballroom, cinema and library to which can be added seemingly innumerable bars, lounges and restaurants. A children’s playroom and a well-equipped hospital, disi pensary and operating theatre are among the services. Each time the Queen Elizabeth ■ crosses to America she will earn £250,000 in passenger fares —and each time she returns 1,000,000 dollars. So many Americans want to come to Britain in her that from the date of her maiden voyage until next January she is booked out. The minimum single fare is £9O.

in October to consider the German and Austrian settlement.

Against this background the firm and definite tone of recent American notes to Yugoslavia and Poland, anc American decision to support Britain and Turkey in opposing Russian requests for a share in control of the Dardanelles are interpreted as signs 0; stiffening Anglo-American opposition to what some commentators call “the Russian diplomatic offensive and war of nerves.” It is noted that the American Government assured both the Yugoslavs and the Poles that it was prepared to defend its rights in Europe, and that it has chosen this moment to bring an American naval squadron into the Mediterranean on a training cruise. “Enter America” The “Observer” under a leading article which is headed “Enter America,” says: “The presence of American cruisers in the Adriatic has been rlie main factor in dissuading the Yugoslavs from attempting to seize Trieste by a violent coup.” British comment reflects a. growing feeling that the present deterioration in relationship and interest in the. West has reached a deal danger point. There is considerable speculation about how far Russia is prepared to go, but the indications are that Britain and America consider that they, on their part, have gone far enuogli. The Paris correspondent of the “Glasgow Herald” says it is not believ-1 ed in Paris that the Russians wish to push things to extremes, but. there is increasing danger, which must be re cognised, that the events may go be- j yond their control.