Possible Sister Ship for the QM2

[Jim Kalafus]

>They are therefore not likely to run into a full strength Atlantic storm. If one did, the outlook would be very nasty.

Was on QM2 in the Bay of Biscay. Waves, in that case, peaking higher than the windows in the lower level of the dining room. There was a normal amount of roll, but a surprising and incessant pitch that smashed all the china in the Atlantic room (we have video of that) and must have made life in the best suites....all the way forward and all the way aft....fairly unpleasant.

>the outlook would be very nasty.

The Zenith came up the US East Coast in a hurricane back in 1996, the end result of which was visible damage (I was outbound, on the Norway into the dying storm, as the Zenith entrerd NY harbor) and the NY Post blaring "WE THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO DIE" on its front cover and a two-page spread detailing passengers with broken limbs, thrown down staircases, etc.....

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I'd love to see the stability curves for some of these ships. Even with the upperworks built as lightly as possible and of the lightest materials the builders can get their hands on, the centre of gravity, metecentric hight and righting moments of these ships compared with the older "classic" liners can't inspire a lot of confidence.

There's also all that glass for all the balcony cabins which are so popular these days.

 

[Ellen Grace Butland]

I was wondering about metrocentric height because to me the cruise ships look top heavy, surely their designers would know about the Imperator's (limperator) woes in being top heavy. I believe she even scared her own crew until she got extra ballast. Didn't she become Cunard's Berengaria?

 

[Grant Carman]

Ellen

Yes she did. From what I've read, Cunard had to put a lot of cement in the bottom of the ship to stabilize her, as well as strip out some of the heavier elements in the uppers, like a lot of the marble and stone that had been used.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

>and righting moments of these ships compared with the older "classic" liners can't inspire a lot of confidence.

I've been on modern ships in fairly high seas and they seem to recover just fine...unlike the terrifying tendency of the original Queen Mary to hang on the roll.

However, something Mr. Gittins brought up is quite intriguing.....

June 1992. Me in the first romantic flush of early middle age. Cruise to Bermuda. Everything perfect. Meet date at Grand Central with rose...etc. Walk up to Hotel Carlyle to find CALL YOUR TRAVEL AGENT-urgent!!!! note slipped under our door....

Our ship, at the start of the northbound trip to New York had gotten caught in an unusually strong current while trying to negotiate the miniscule harbor entrance at St. George. Was driven back, and then caught by the wind and sent, uncontrolled, across the harbor, colliding with yachts and private boats until...finally...she was reigned in. When we got to Bermuda...delayed by a day...it was still front page news. So, ponder what a 50 knot wind could have done.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Didn't she become Cunard's Berengaria?<<

Yep, and a lot of the fixes put into the ship didn't do much more then put bandaides on the problems. The fixes included cutting down the hight of the stacks and adding up to 6000 tons of concrete as permanent ballest in the double bottom. This served to make the intolerable marginally tolerable.

 

[George L. Lorton]

quote:

>>Didn't she become Cunard's Berengaria?<<

I wonder if she was named for Richard The Lion Heart's Queen Berengaria Of Navarre. The Lady never set foot in England while she was queen but has a ship named after her. Somebody get me in touch with her agent quick.

 

[Ellen Grace Butland]

Yes, the ship was named for Richard Lionheart's queen. I was told years ago that if a Cunard engineer bitched about anything, he was sent to the Berengaria as a sort of punishment. One person i knew called her "that workhouse and apology of a ship" another said, ah yes, the Jerrys sank Lucy and we got the Bere instead and that rubbed salt into the wound.