John Brown & Co. | Clyde River and Firth

Construction of hull 552 at Messrs John Brown & Co. Ltd. in Clydebank was begun in the last month of 1936 on the same building berth left by her quasi-sister Queen Mary. She was 1031 feet long and 118 ft in the beam and at 83, 673 tons, was the larger of the two ships. Hull 552 early summer, 1938 Hull 552 early summer, 1938 Hull 552 before launch in 1938 The new ship attracted less attention than her more famous sister and was named, Queen Elizabeth, when launched by the new Queen on September 27, 1938. Queen Elizabeth afloat for the first time (Feilden) Anchor Line tug Paladin taking control (Feilden) Coming into the fitting-out berth (Feilden) With Paladin and Flying Eagle Fitting out ensued in John Brown’s basin but war was declared before she was completed and at the end of 1939, she was prepared to sail for New York and then Australia to complete her conversion for trooping...

During the roaring twenties, with prohibition in the United States, the Transatlantic trade expanded rapidly. Cunard with Mauritania and the Clyde built Aquitania, were experiencing severe competition from White-Star, the French Compagnie Générale Transatlantique and German Norddeutscher Lloyd. The advent of the Bremen in 1929 demanded a response and while the French line laid down Normandie, and White-Star planned a new vessel, to be named Oceanic, Cunard planned to have its own vessel built on the Clyde. Yard number 534 The steamship with yard number 534 was laid down in John Brown’s yard in December 1930. Good progress was made with the construction of the hull but the project fell victim to the depression that followed the Wall Street crash. Work was suspended late in 1931 as the Cunard Company could not raise the capital to complete the ship. The partially completed hull lay...