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N0KFQ > TODAY 09.01.13 18:06l 42 Lines 1850 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 34206_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 3
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<VE3UIL<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 130109/1550Z 34206@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.53
...
Jan 9, 1972:
Fire breaks out on Queen Elizabeth
On this day in 1972,, the ship Seawise University (formerly the RMS
Queen Elizabeth) sinks in Hong Kong Harbor despite a massive
firefighting effort over two days.
The Queen Elizabeth, named after the wife of King George VI, was
launched on September 27, 1938; at the time, it was the largest
passenger steamship ever constructed. When World War II began, the
Queen Elizabeth was sent to New York to protect it from German bombs.
There, it was docked next to the Normandie and the Queen Mary, the
other two largest passenger ships of the time.
Later, the Queen Elizabeth was called into service as a troop
transport ship, carrying nearly 1 million soldiers during the war.
Following the war, the ship returned to commercial service and became
one of the dominant transatlantic carriers, hauling thousands of
people back and forth between England and the United States. In 1968,
the ship's owner, the Cunard Steamship Company, sold the Queen
Elizabeth to a company that sought to turn it into a tourist
attraction and hotel in Philadelphia. However, the aging ship was
deemed a fire hazard and two years later it was sold to Hong Kong
businessman C.Y. Tung, who wanted to use the ship as a floating
college. It was renamed Seawise University and sent to Hong Kong
Harbor for refitting.
On January 8, fire broke out on the ship and virtually the entire Hong
Kong firefighting force turned out to try to save it. Despite heroic
efforts over two days, the old ship turned on its side and sank to the
bottom of the harbor. Fortunately, no one was killed. Two years later,
the wreck served as the backdrop for a key scene in The Man With the
Golden Gun, a 1974 film starring Roger Moore as James Bond.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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