QE2 Slides preserved and researched by Brian Price, Cruise Director.

[Thomas Hypher]

Big question....... what happened to them after they were taken out of the ship in Germany and replaced with diesel electric engines?
 
Does anyone know the answer?

I gather all of the steam turbine plant's machinery was disposed of as scrap metal. One pair of propellers went to Kiel for display and another pair were melted down into limited edition golf clubs or at least this is what I've read.

[Michael Gallagher]

Cunard was hoping that a museum in the UK would be interested in taking some of the redundant machinery but none showed any interest when approached.

Some of the turbine blades were cut into pieces and mounted on individual clear plastic mounts and were given away as souvenirs by Cunard.

QE2’s first set of propellers remained with the ship throughout her time as a steamship but her 1986 / 1987 re-engining would see them replaced by a new set of controllable pitch five-bladed propellers from the Dutch firm of LIPS.

It was reported that the years of service and rotating through the water had reduced the diameter of the propellers by 1.5 inches.

One propeller was originally to be retained as a dockland exhibit in England but that plan never materialised while the other propeller is suspected to have been melted down by LIPS with the metal being recast into other propellers.

Kiel

In 1987 one of the propellers was saved by German entrepreneur Berni Schweda who gave it to the City of Kiel where, since 1990, it now resides on the east river bank. There are no signposts or plaques about it and it appeared in a sorry state in 2018.

It WASN'T these propellers which became the golf materials - it was actually the spare set which had been produced in the 1960s and had lain in Southampton ready for use as and when.


See topic When visiting Kiel Germany - QE2 Propellers

[June Ingram]

Many thanks for the amazing photos and commentary !   

[Clydebuilt1971]

Great photos and commentary.

These tell not only the story of the building of QE2 but also of the skill and capability of Clydeside at that time.

Keep em comin!!

Gav

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

In Lynda's absence, here is the next series of Brian Price's wonderful photos. Thank you so much, Brian, for the  photos and the description following hereunder.


The Michell Thrust Bearing



The Michell Thrust bearing is one of the most important parts of the propulsion system. There’s a thrust bearing at the top end of each propeller shaft, just behind the double reduction gearbox.
QE2’s main thrust bearings were manufactured by a South Shields Company.....Michell Bearings.
 
During one of my presentations I was asked a question about the main engine bearings – and I was not too sure if I had given the correct answer. When I got home I Googled ‘Michell Bearings’ and called the company to see how close I had been to giving out the right answer to the question. I was ‘put through’ to the CEO who was delighted to hear that I had slides of his bearings and had been giving talks about the QE2 engines. He not only confirmed that I had been giving out the correct information, but also provided me with drawings of the bearings.
 
DEFINITION AS PROVIDED
Michell Hydrodynamic bearings.
Neither plate or roller type bearings.
Incompressible oil between one rotating and one static plates.
Frictionless, but with gradual power loss caused by shearing of the oil film.
 
Inside the bearing is a circular plate/collar which is attached to, and rotates with the propeller shaft. In front of that is another circular collar around the propeller shaft which is static (not rotating). In between the two there is a incompressible film of oil. It is at this point that the enormous energy created by the rotating blades of the propellers (and delivered back up the propeller shaft) is diverted down to the hull of the ship.
 
If it were not for these bearings, that energy would go back into the engine.



Further aft, between storage tanks, one of the two propeller shafts is clearly seen in the background. As mentioned before, the shaft was constructed in sections for ease of removal / replacement if necessary, and rotated at a speed of approximately 132 RPM (on a good day).
 
Coming Up......The Main Control Room and Argus 400 computer.

[June Ingram]

Many thanks, Brian, for sharing with us your awesome photos and the commentary for the photos.  It is an extraordinary opportunity to see these photos of QE2 !  Many thanks to Isabelle for posting them here for us to see !   

[Lynda Bradford]

A big thank-you to Brian Price for this latest instalment of photos.  These may bring back memories for our Engineers who were on QE2 during her early years.  If you recognised any of the faces please post so that we can put names to faces. 

1:  The MCR or to give it’s full tile The Main Control Room where all technical functions (including the contents of the storerooms) of the ship were controlled and monitored......a few familiar faces here!



2: The Main Electrical Power Station.
Electricity is produced by 3 turbo alternators using steam from the 3 Foster Wheeler boilers at an initial voltage of 3,300 each. Electricity is then delivered at 440v and then reduced to 220v and 110v for domestic use around the ship. In it’s early days it was said that the 5.5 megawatts that could be produced by QE2 was enough to light the city of Southampton.
 


3: Checking the printout of the Argus 400 computer which is housed in the room at the rear of this picture.
The Argus 400 system was made by Ferranti and named in line with their policy of naming computers after Greek gods. It was designed in the 1960’s with potential use mostly in the military field. Please note: Rob has posted an item with all the intricate details of the Argus 400 computer.



You can read more about the computer on QE2's computer Ferranti Argus 400 topic

Brian mentioned that the next instalment will be "The TCR" no idea what what is but sure looking forward to finding out. 

[Rod]

Very early photos! The gentleman with 2 stripes and a lack of hair is Brian Gregory, later on he became Staff Chief, maybe Chief.
TCR is Turbine Control Room.

[Clydebuilt1971]

I wonder if it was a company local to the builder who made those control panels and switchgear for the control rooms?

Back in the day there were hundreds of suppliers who could do just that and more.

[June Ingram]

These are just wonderful photos ! Thanks very much to Brian Price for providing them and to Lynda for posting them ! 

[Lynda Bradford]

A big thank-you to Brian Price for continuing to let us see his slide collection.

The latest slides take us behind the scenes to the Turbine Control Room with Brian providing his commentary.  If you recognise any of the officers on duty please let us know.

"Here two of the three officers on duty. I remember the engineer sitting down, but cannot remember his name I think it’s Ray.

In the Turbine Control Room, no prizes for guessing what they do here.
But nevertheless a brief explanation......they control the turbines.

That is they direct the steam coming out of the boilers and going into the turbines and make the turbines go faster, slower or astern, thus controlling the speed and whether the ship goes forwards or astern.
The OOW (Officer of the Watch) on the bridge will manoeuvre the bridge telegraph to indicate the vessels requirements from Full Ahead to Full Astern."



Bridge to Engine telegraph



"The above console is located on the bridge. On the left of centre, a row of switches for the port engine  and on the right of centre a row of switches for the starboard engine, Both engines in this picture are on half ahead ie half speed ahead.

You’ll notice that the switches are oil stained.....the reason is that this picture was taken during a refit when they were being operated by engineers and not well manicured navigators!

The two outside rows of illuminated lights are a secondary confirmation of the engine speed situation."

Meanwhile in the TCR...



To the left of the lever is a row of lights which is a repeater of the bridge requirements for this engine. Just off the picture is the same repeater indicator and lever for the other engine.
 
The officer has received an instruction from the bridge (half ahead) via the telegraph, and he will confirm that with the corresponding switch and he will then manoeuvre the lever he is holding in his right hand the increase / decrease the steam going into the turbines until the required shaft speed is reached. Unlike modern ships, QE2 had a human link from bridge commands through to engine control. In front of him, the large dial provides him with a readout of revolutions either forward or astern....
 
(In the Geiranger Fjord, QE2 lost it’s steering capability at a fairly reasonable speed in the early hours of the morning, and it was only through an immediate understanding of the situation shared between the helm (most likely the Captain)  and the officer in the TCR that a disaster was averted. This resulted in an unscheduled visit to Alesund and a stopover there while parts were flown out.
 

[Lynda Bradford]

I have added all the photos that Brian has made available to us to a forum gallery album

[June Ingram]

These are marvelous photos along with a great commentary !  Many thanks to Brian for sharing them and to Lynda for posting them !   

[Rod]

Officer sitting down is Ray Divett. Later  became 1st Engineer.

[Thomas Hypher]

Wonderful! Both the technical and the anecdotal aspects!