Construction of hull 552 at Messrs John Brown & Co. Ltd. in Clydebank was begun in the last month of 1936 on the same building berth left by her quasi-sister Queen Mary. She was 1031 feet long and 118 ft in the beam and at 83, 673 tons, was the larger of the two ships.
Hull 552 early summer, 1938
Hull 552 early summer, 1938
Hull 552 before launch in 1938
The new ship attracted less attention than her more famous sister and was named, Queen Elizabeth, when launched by the new Queen on September 27, 1938.
Queen Elizabeth afloat for the first time (Feilden)
Anchor Line tug Paladin taking control (Feilden)
Coming into the fitting-out berth (Feilden)
With Paladin and Flying Eagle
Fitting out ensued in John Brown’s basin but war was declared before she was completed and at the end of 1939, she was prepared to sail for New York and then Australia to complete her conversion for trooping duties. Painted in camouflage grey, she was brought down the river Clyde on March 3 and shortly thereafter left on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic.
Queen Elizabeth heading down the Clyde in March 1940
Setting out for deeper water
Her war service started in Australia and the Far-East but after the United States entered the war, she was employed on the Atlantic like Queen Mary.
At the end of hostilities, Queen Elizabeth was released to the Cunard Company and refitted at Greenock.
Queen Elizabeth off Greenock in 1946
This series of postcards by Ralston shows the new battleship, H.M.S. Vanguard, coming down the Clyde after construction at Messrs John Brown & Co. Ltd. with the Queen Elizabeth, partially repainted, in the background.
H.M.S. Vanguard and her tugs (Ralston)
H.M.S. Vanguard with Queen Elizabeth (Ralston)
H.M.S. Vanguard off Port Glasgow (Ralston)
Queen Elizabeth completed her formal trials, postponed from 1940, on the Clyde.
Queen Elizabeth ready for trials at the Tail of the Bank (Ralston)
Queen Elizabeth with Macbrayne’s King George V off Greenock (Ralston)
Queen Elizabeth on the measured mile off Arran (Ralston)
Queen Elizabeth was sold in 1968 with the arrival of Queen Elizabeth 2, and lost to fire in Hong Kong Harbour in 1972. She outlived the H.M.S. Vanguard by more than a decade. H.M.S. Vanguard was scrapped at Faslane in 1960.
Vanguard on the Clyde (Ralston)