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N0KFQ > TODAY 09.01.14 19:35l 49 Lines 1855 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 10145_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 9
Path: IZ3LSV<IV3SCP<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<F1OYP<VK6ZRT<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 140109/1755Z 10145@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.57
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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