Builders' plate

[Fairfield]

The cheapest and nastiest piece of work I have ever seen. UCS should have been thoroughly ashamed of this apology for a builders' plate on such a prestigious ship as QE2.

[Rob Lightbody]

Where was (is) the builders plate?

[Fairfield]

Hoped nobody would ask that!! It was  I think on the open Quarter Deck  aft near the pool. I took it in 1979 but now I think of it, can't remember it on subsequent trips in 83, 88, or 2000. Maybe they were so ashamed they removed it.....

[Louis De Sousa]

It was on Signal Deck as you can see on the photos  just above the clock i have no clue when it was removed.
Maybe after the Falklands War ?

Louis

[Andrew Collier]

Agree with Fairfield, it really was a let down! Probally fashionable style at the time and looked ok when shiney and new, but really aged badly and all that paint overlapping the edges, shame shame shame....

[Twynkle]

 Strange that it wasn't dated?!

[Rob Lightbody]

I bet it was removed in the 86/87 rebuild.

At the very least they'd have needed a new plate to note the considerable Bremerhaven work - e.g. re-engined 1987 by ....

[Fairfield]

I was only a Deck or two out with location.........

[Michael Gallagher]

It was originally located below where 'Queen ELizabeth 2' was written aft of the funnel so viewable from Sports (renamed Sun Deck in 1994). As Rob says it was removed during the re-engining and was placed in the Wardroom where it remained to QE2's retirement. It was located above the Aquitania bell and in between the royal photos of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh near the main entrance to the Wardroom.

[Fairfield]

It may not have been much but I'm glad it did not disappear into obscurity.

[Michael Gallagher]

And it was tidied up and the lettering re-blacked (if that's a proper expression) when put into the Wardroom.

[Michael Gallagher]

I don't have a full-on photo of the plaque scanned but this image shows half of it next to the portrait of The Queen...

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

There's a good photo here (thank you, Louis, for pointing out this great web site) :

http://www.nansaidh.us/webdesign/nans/wardroom.htm

It is worth trying out the arrows at the bottom of the page too!

[Bob C.]

Not much changed over the years when it was outside.  Here's one from June 1974.

[Bob C.]

Being somewhat obsessive-compulsive, I wondered why the clock was off center from the builder's plate in Fairfield's photo and mine.  Looking at my 1969 photo's I found one of the original clock that was there as evidenced by the holes in bulkhead to the right of the clock in the other two photos.  The original clock was digital and centered.  I guess it was unable to withstand the salty environment for very long.  This photo is from August 1969 and I zoomed in on the applicable portion.

[Twynkle]

So the cat is out of the bag!

From QE2: the silver model from the Midships Lobby; the Royal Standard from the Queens Room; the bell from Three Deck; the Bust of HM The Queen from the Queens Room and her Builder's Plate from the Wardroom......

Because QE2's  Builders Plate has been placed on the new Queen Elizabeth -
It would be interesting to know whether a copy has been made and left in QE2?

[Bob C.]

If the ship still exists, why would the builder's plate be removed?  Would it not make more sense to use a copy of the plate if such a thing was desired to adorn the qe? 


And yes, I consider it "qe" and not the "QE".  Gone are the days when passenger ship's names meant something.

[Rod]

That builders plaque created all sorts of entertainment.
If you remember the wording on it...said something like built and engined by by John Browns of Clydebank now a part of UCS or something like that.
It was situated under the clock on the "Helicopter" deck.
An enterprising Engineer, decided he wanted a souvenir before it was re-engined...after all. The plaque was wrong!!! couldn't be put up again.
This Engineer, over a sucession of nights loosened the 4 screws that held it in place,,,greased them and put them back, couldn't have been easy, 17 years of paint and corrosion....the night before arrival in Soton, the final arrival under steam. The plaque disappeared.

 Little did this Engineer realize that, a certain CHIEF Engineer also had the same idea, and, was highly upset that "HIS" steam souvenir had been pre-empted. Little did this Engineer realize that the POLICE would be called in! Taking it ashore was out of the question as HM Customs were searching everything.
To cut along story short, the plaque was hidden and "found" much later.

[Twynkle]

That builders plaque created all sorts of entertainment.
If you remember the wording on it...said something like built and engined by by John Browns of Clydebank now a part of UCS or something like that.....
....To cut along story short, the plaque was hidden and "found" much later.

Hmm....
Circa March 2010
It found its way, together with QE2's Bell, onto MV Queen Elizabeth
They sit beside each other - with the Queen's Room Bust not far off.
This one has six screws - might it be a fake?!  


IMG_8835 by twynkle1

and

IMG_8841 by twynkle1

[Rod]

The Engineers memory might have gone a bit fuzzy over time!