Information on the QE2 Radio Room

[Lynda Bradford]

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Radio Room

The Radio Room, designed by International Marine Radio IMR was situated forward of the 736 Club on Boat Deck port side. It was an area that many people would have passed by without ever going in or have received telegraphs and messages without full understanding the work of the Radio Officers. 

"International Marine Radio Company was responsible for the whole installation on QE2. They engineered and installed the system including the four simultaneous conversation and the two picture circuits

The quality of the original installation was excellent. The drawings and wiring looms were beautifully done and a number of complex units were made especially for QE2, in particular the control units for the telephone exchange, the duplex units and the rack known as ‘The Coffin’ that contained the speech inversion devices. Speech inversion was known as ‘Condition A’ but all it did was swap from upper to lower sideband so like all the short wave phone calls could still easily be listened in to by short wave listeners. Portishead didn’t have it but Ocean Gate Radio in the USA would occasionally suggest Condition A." Willum


Photo: Roger Latham

1969: Deck plan showing The Radio Room situated on Boat Deck


Image: Louis de Sousa

[Lynda Bradford]

1969: Radio Room ( before fully operational)

Photo: from Roger Latham collection

Photo: Press Photo from Rob Lightbody's collection

1999
As a result of advances in technology with the arrival of Global Maritime Distress and Safety Systems (GMDSS) the Radio Room facility was completely removed. Equipment was transferred to the Communications Centre on Two Deck and individual department terminals installed on the navigations bridge.  The Caledonia Suite (575 square feet) was installed using the Radio Room space.  Recent refurbishments to the ship in Dubai has resulted in the area forward of the Queens Grill being incorporated into the restaurant. 


Image: George C Griffiths

[Lynda Bradford]

If you fast forward to around 49 minutes on this You Tube video you see the Radio Officer in the QE2's Radio Room (circa 1993) reporting the ships position.  This is a rare glimpse into the Radio Room on film. If anyone has video footage of the radio room or photos we would encourage you to post them on the forum.