1975
• Four new cruise launches and davits were installed replacing four of the six 80-seater cruise launches. One of the boats removed eventually ended up offering trips on Lough Derg in Ireland and was renamed KU-EE-TU and was still in service in 2009.
1983
• Alpha and Beta tenders were added aft.
1994
• Boats 7 and 8 were removed (these were final two of the set of six whose four ‘sisters’ had been removed in 1975) and replaced with Harding Tenders.
• Alpha and Beta were removed and sold to a new owner in Croatia.
As of November 2008 when she retired QE2’s boats had been on board since 1969 (or 1975 as in the case of the four cruise launches) apart from the Harding Tenders.
Alpha and Beta (1983 – 1994)
With over 30 launch ports within a twelve month period QE2’s launch service was one of the major areas of passenger complaint with the delay in getting ashore some 1,750 people being the primary cause of complaint. While gangways and pontoons had been redesigned the launch capacity was still similar to that of the original design. This problem was furthered by the unceasing quest for cruise ports to add to QE2’s cruise itineraries meant that most of the additions were those where draft restrictions had to be accommodated for and therefore required good passenger transfer capacity.
QE2’s General Manager, Captain Doug Ridley, was given the task to find a solution to this problem and after a great deal of research and consideration of alternatives the following proposal was made:
2 x 120 passenger tenders £240,000
2 x full sets davits £75,000
Installation / stiffening etc £80,000
TOTAL £395,000
Two powerful new 45-foot motor launches, built at a final all-in cost of £420,000, were fitted aft and alongside the new Magrodome area to assist in the transfer of passengers from ship-to-shore when required. Completed by Watercraft of Sussex, they were named Alpha and Beta and were equipped to carry 122 people each. Their 212-hp engines gave a speed of 10-knoys and each tender had a cruising range of 174 nautical miles.
The hull and deck area was specially strengthened with davit systems of a hydraulic pivot type (allowing for a 25 ft / min recovery speed) being installed. The aft deck location for the two new cruise launches were strengthened and cable installation work was carried out in preparation for the installation of the davits and launches while QE2 was in Hong Kong (13 – 16 March 1983).
The new davits were installed while QE2 was still in service and before she entered dry-dock. The starboard davit (for ‘Alpha’) was fitted in Southampton on 26 September 1983 with the port one (for ‘Beta’) being fitted on 8 October.
Cunard felt that the large expenditure on the two new launches was warranted given that launch boat service for QE2 was non-competitive during most of the year when the ship was on cruise service. The addition of the two boats would increase the ship’s boat capacity by 63%, reduce typical launch boat cycle times by about 30% and require no additional manning. The time saving to discharge a full ship was estimated to be some 45 minutes, with a back up service in the event of breakdowns.
Alpha and Beta did not prove very practical and were known for not being very good sea boats; they became known by officers as ‘Ridley’s Folly’.
Both these craft and their associated davits were removed in 1994 and were sold to a new owner in Croatia; their roles being taken up by the new Harding Tenders.
Harding Tenders (1994)
The removal of Alpha and Beta, and the need to renew two of the existing tenders, necessitated in the installation of two new 112-seat Harding catamaran-type launches which were installed on new davits on the Boat deck, midships, numbers 13 and 14. These craft were innovative in design and particularly suitable for the easy boarding of passengers. A speed in excess of 12 knots made transfer between ship and shore very quick. As partially enclosed lifeboats, each tender could accommodate 150 passengers. Propulsion was by twin 290 bhp diesel engines driving 600-mm diameter alloy bronze propellers.