R.M.S. "Queen Elizabeth" was designed as the running mate to Cunard's "Queen Mary" but was not ready for sea by the time the Second World War began in September 1939. Laid down in December 1936, her huge hull - weighing 40,000 tons - was launched by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth (wife of King George VI) in September 1938 although completion soon slowed due to the worsening international situation. Sent secretly to New York in March 1940, she was converted into a troopship. After a distinguished wartime career, she returned to Southampton in June 1946 where she finally received the luxurious fittings and furniture which had been stored throughout the war pending her return.

Sailing from Southampton on her maiden commercial voyage in October 1946, she was soon joined by the reconditioned "Queen Mary" and they then began a spectacularly profitable North Atlantic service which lasted for fifteen years. Only then did airline popularity affect profits and she was eventually withdrawn from passenger operations in October 1968. An American venture to preserve her in Florida came to nothing and, in 1970, she was sold to the Taiwanese shipping tycoon C.Y. Tung who planned to turn her into a floating university. In January 1972, whilst refitting in Hong Kong, the "Queen Elizabeth" mysteriously caught fire under still unexplained circumstances, capsized due to the weight of water pumped into her by fireboats and became a total loss.