Cruise Talk: qe2/qm2 troopships

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Topic: qe2/qm2 troopships

jake14
First Class Passenger
Member # 602

posted 01-05-2003 06:27 PM

Do you think that the QE2 or new QM2 could be used as troopships?

Posts: 136 | From: susanville ca us | Registered: May 99 | IP: Logged

nzmike
First Class Passenger
Member # 1308

posted 01-05-2003 06:44 PM

QE@ was used as a troopship during the Falklands conflict in 1982. She had a helicopter deck installed aft and did one voyage down to the Falklands. She did not spend long down there but did make a valuable contribution. I'm sure that if the need was there, QE2, QM2 or in fact any passenger ship could be a troop carrier.

Posts: 186 | From: Auckland, New Zealand | Registered: May 2000 | IP: Logged

Ðraikar
First Class Passenger
Member # 1153

posted 01-06-2003 02:25 PM

quote:
did one voyage down to the Falklands

I know she was in the Falklands war, so many died but she "QE2" was used as i guess a first part voyage to some other place and troops would disembark and sail the rest of the way on SS Canberra to the Falklands, the last war with ships since Falklands air power was kinda good and they could shoot down troop planes better then ships unlike Iraq that have outdated air defenses... But did QE2 make some voyages to the Falklands ??? I never had the impression she did ???

Ðraikar

Posts: 1710 | From: USA, New York | Registered: Mar 2000 | IP: Logged

PamM
First Class Passenger
Member # 2127

posted 01-06-2003 03:08 PM

She only went to South Georgia, about 1300km ESE of the Falkland Islands.
"QE2 was requisitioned on 3 May 1982 specifically to carry supplies and 3,500 soldiers from the 5th Infantry Brigade (the Scots and Welsh Guards and Gurkha Rifles) to South Georgia. It took nine days to convert the ship for trooping duties – work that included covering 17 miles of carpeting with 2,000 sheets of hardboard, removing soft furnishings and wall coverings, converting public rooms into dormitories, laying fuel pipes along the corridors and down to the engine room to facilitate refuelling at sea, and building two helicopter landing decks fore and aft.
On 12 May the ship set off from Southampton on
the 3,000-mile journey south, with just one port of call – Freetown. After leaving Freetown all portholes and windows were covered with plastic sheeting to ensure complete blackout, and on 23 May the ship’s radar was switched off to help avoid detection by the Argentinians. In the dark, and with no modern navigational aids, the ship sped south through icefields – arriving safely in South Georgia on 27 May.
After discharging all the troops and supplies, QE2 returned to the UK carrying 650 survivors from HMS Coventry, HMS Antelope and HMS Ardent, she arrived to a tumultuous welcome in Southampton on 11 June, where she was greeted by HM The Queen Mother on board the Royal Yacht Britannia."
Pam

Posts: 12176 | From: Cambridge, UK | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 01-06-2003 04:16 PM

The British Government could not bear to expose a ship carrying the name of name of the current sovereign (Queen Elizabeth) to enemy fire.

However, they were prepared to risk the capital of Australia, ‘the Canberra’. Canberra went right into the war zone to deploy troops by landing craft and was at real risk of Aircraft attack.

Her Aluminium superstructure would have burned uncontrollably if the worse had happened. The regular Captain and members of her crew were very brave, not to metion the troops!

Good question Jake. I suppose the QM2 could be requisitioned by the British Government as the QE2, Canberra and other merchant ships were, in times of war?

Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

gohaze
First Class Passenger
Member # 586

posted 01-06-2003 04:22 PM

Pam...a succinct word is "STUFTed"
...peter

Posts: 1909 | From: Vancouver.BC | Registered: Sep 99 | IP: Logged

Cunardcoll
First Class Passenger
Member # 1226

posted 01-09-2003 04:26 AM

quote:
unlike Iraq that have outdated air defenses

If there is one thing I know about history , it is never to underestimate the power of an army , Iraq has more than we know , I think Iraq has the power to surprise us and that is very dangerous.

Posts: 947 | From: Belgium | Registered: Apr 2000 | IP: Logged

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