QE2 Inchgreen Dry Dock: 1968 (photos and film)

[bobso]

So lovely to see the QE2 again Pete--very good set of photo's. Have seen some of them before but it is nice to look at them again.
Have saved the ones i want in to my album.

[Bob C.]

QE2 in dry dock at the moment but here is an interesting British Pathe film of her entering the dry dock in Greenock for the first time
https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,1352.0.html

At about 1:40 into this British Pathe movie the commentator talks about a "slight scrape she got into...".  The video found at the below website shows how hard she hit when entering.  Its time lapsed (sped up) so it looks even more dramatic.

Enjoy.

[Lynda Bradford]

Quite interesting that Queen Elizabeth's positioning for sailing into the dock allowed her to sail straight in, rather gracefully.  On the other hand QE2 was required to do a left turn supported with tugs to prevent any damage and was rather a clumsy approach.  Not like her at all!

[RMS Queen Elizabeth 2]

Rob has sent this link to an amazing photo of QE2 in Dry Dock 1968/69 by Ken McChesney.  Just fantastic! 


https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenmak/5678807601/

Here it is :


QE2-in-Dry-Dock by Ken McChesney, on Flickr

WOW that is just   I'm speechless, she looks astonishing!  She looks a very different QE2 to how she is today regarding the lighting. Those lines look very majestic as does the ship herself. She does look like a Queen! All regal and proud, just how a Queen should be.

[riskygizmo]

Another gem from You Tube.

 
Source:  You Tube
Video
Description:  QE2 entering Dry Dock in 1968

[Alan.C.]

I wonder if anyone got sacked for the miscalculation at 2:24 in the video!

[Peter Mugridge]

I wonder if anyone got sacked for the miscalculation at 2:24 in the video!

At 2:45 she very noticably moves the same way at roughly the same rate; I wonder if there was a bit of a crosswind blowing from the portside that day?

[riskygizmo]

At 2:45 she very noticably moves the same way at roughly the same rate; I wonder if there was a bit of a crosswind blowing from the portside that day?

I think you're on the money there Peter. If you look at the smoke from the tugs and the flags on QE2's mast there seems to be a strong, gusting easterly blowing.

[Bob C.]

I always cringe when I see that collision.  You can see how one tug on the stbd side backs away and then jumps in at the last minute before the bump with the dock - too little too late.

[Fairfield]

I don't think it's her second term in the drydock. I'm sure that's her first time in but open to correction.

[Wesley Hutchins]

Sorry for the late reply, but this a very interesting video. I did not know this incident occurred. It's almost similar to a 1979 QE2 docking attempt in New York (featured on National Geographic's Superliners documentary), where the tugs were on strike and the QE2 was forced to dock without them.

The situation become dicey when a sub-surface current in the Hudson forced QE2's bow closer to Pier 90 while swinging her stern down-river. The first docking attempt was abandoned and at least one of the anchors had to be lowered to help control the ship's movement. In the end, she made it in without incident on the second attempt, thanks in part to the joint efforts of Captain Ridley and the NY Harbor pilot.

[Clydebuilt1971]

The Forum Moderators recently received a kind offer from a Mr Tony Dinning of the loan of 8mm cine film that his father Jackie,  a bus driver based at the adjacent Inchgreen Depot, shot of QE2 arriving at Inchgreen Drydock, Greenock from her builders John Brown on 19th November 1968.

We had the cine reel converted to digital format and it can be viewed below.

Copyright remains with Mr Tony Dinning and is reproduced with permission of Jackie Dinning.

The QE2 Story Forum thank him for permitting this valuable footage to be posted on this forum - its first viewing in electronic format!

Enjoy a piece of history!

Gav

[Lynda Bradford]

A few words of thanks - firstly thank-you  to Jackie Dinning, who recorded this epic moment when QE2 sailed into the Inchgreen dock and to his son, who contacted the QE2 Story admin to ask if we would be willing to convert the cine reel footage to a digital format so that it could be enjoyed by QE2 Story Members. 

But most of all a big thank-you to Clydebuilt 1971 (Gav) who took on the task of sourcing a company to digitise the film.

The film captures a moment in time when people stopped to watch QE2 dock at Inchgreen.  They would never know   QE2's claim to fame that she would acquire in her service life, but I am pretty sure that many of people who watched her arrive at Greenock on that day would be the same people who welcomed her back to Greenock in future years. 

[Michael Gallagher]

Some nice additional detail about Prince Charles' trip on board in 1968 in today's Herald!

https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/18242438.days---prince-charles-scotland-1968-1971/

[Chris Thompson]

Still think her original profile was the best, very sleek and yacht-like.