When I ran into him and his wife Kim later, I presented them with a few gifts to take home as keepsakes. What the Commodore did next, though, I did not anticipate whatsoever. He insisted on giving me something, so he took his QE2 pin off his lapel and gave it to me. I was absolutely touched, and thanked him profusely. To say that Commodore Warwick is a kind and generous man is an understatement!
I don't think it will surprise anyone when I say that I will treasure this gift until my dying day.
There weren't very many people out and about when we first arrived - both on land and the ship. Through my binoculars, however, I saw an officer on the bridge looking over something while drinking a cup of tea. After my friend and I checked out the nearby Lane Victory (a WWII-era Liberty ship), however, the terminal was buzzing with activity and a helicopter circled around the Elizabeth and undoubtedly filming a segment for the local news. It isn't, after all, just everyday that a ship makes its maiden call at a port. 
The wreck of the Andrea Doria has evolved throughout the years. Where she once appeared very much as an elegant liner peacefully resting on the seafloor, now she has aged and deteriorated, her hull has fractured and collapsed. Her upper decks have slowly slid off the hull of the Doria down to the seabed below. As a result of this transformation, a large debris field flows out from the hull of the liner. Access points frequented by divers, such as Gimbel's Hole, no longer exist. However, new areas are constantly opening up. The wreck is ever-changing, and presents new options for future explorations.
"I would say that no seaman can be an atheist. He sees the Hand of God so often in the elements." That is what Captain Donald Sorrell wrote in his (posthumously released) memoirs. Mariners and religion have a long, long history together: whether it be the Quaker whalers from Nantucket or the Cunard captain who performs Divine Service aboard one of the three Queens today. The two are connected. Captain Sorrell knew this, which is perhaps why he choose these words for a special prayer for the Caronia's maiden voyage: We give Thee thanks, O Lord, for this beautiful ship, built by the efforts of people in whom the desire to strive and create has been allowed, through Thy grace, to develop and produce such a splendid result, and we pray that the crews manning her will continue, as we have commenced, to uphold always the highest traditions of the British Merchant Service. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Before anyone gets any wrong ideas, I want to explain my reasons for posting on such a topic. God and religion have both played a major role in maritime history and Captain Sorrell's prayer is a prime example of that relationship. Nothing more and nothing less.
References: Sylvia Duncan and Peter Duncan, The Sea My Steed: The Personal Story of Captain Donald Sorrell (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1960), 155.
The MS Athena encountered some "bloody terrifyingly bad" weather after leaving Falmouth, England back in September 2006. Winds were so powerful that one 70-year old doctor was knocked to the deck and died as a result of his injuries.
The Royal Rendezvous was thoroughly celebrated by New York City. Not only was there the magnificent fireworks display this evening; Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared January 13, 2011 to be "Cunard Royal Rendezvous Day." The famous Empire State Building was illuminated in red and the New York Stock Exchange was closed with ringing from one of the original Queen Elizabeth's bells.
The Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Victoria have all docked in New York Harbor today for a very special event. This is only the second time in the Cunard Line's history that the entire fleet has been berthed in New York Harbor, and the city intends to celebrate this rare occurrence with a tremendous fireworks display by the Statue of Liberty.
Audrey Lawson-Johnston (née Warren Pearl), the last known survivor of the RMS Lusitania, died earlier today at the age of 95. The First World War was in full swing, and the famous Cunarder was just a few miles from the Irish coast when she was torpedoed by the U-20 on May 7, 1915: Lusitania sank in just 18 minutes.
It was 39 years ago today that fire swept through and destroyed the RMS Queen Elizabeth, which had been renamed the SS Seawise University. The liner had been sold to Mr. C.Y. Tung of Hong Kong who had the intention of turning her into a traveling school (similar to the Semester at Sea program that exists today). Shortly before her debut in this new role, however, several fires broke out aboard the former Lizzie on January 9, 1972 and completely destroyed her. Twisted, broken and burnt out, she would lay in disgrace until finally broken up between 1974 and 1975. Although much of the ship was scrapped it is estimated that as much as 50% of the former Queen Elizabeth still sits underwater in Hong Kong Harbor.
A memorial was established outside of Mr. Tung's headquarters in Torrance, California following the liner's destruction. It incorporated one of her massive anchors as well as a "Q" and "E" from her bow letters. A similar monument was put up in New York City and utilized the other set of letters.
As the Second World War began to escalate in the early part of 1940, the decision was made to move the new Queen Elizabeth out of Scotland; she would be too prime a target for the Luftwaffe otherwise. Without being thoroughly tested, she embarked on her secret maiden voyage, as described by Leonard A. Stevens: On March 2, 1940, the Queen Elizabeth, untried at sea, set forth across the Atlantic. She was escorted for a ways by four British destroyers and some military aircraft; then the ship set off alone in the submarine-infested ocean. Captain J.C. Townley commanded a crew of about four hundred. The ship was unarmed except for two guns on each side of the flying bridge. Though the crew did not know it, they were actually acting on an order from Winston Churchill, who had said that the liner must keep away from the British Isles until ordered to return. Indeed, the Germans, who got word of the plans, were even waiting with their bombers over the English Channel at the time the Elizabeth was supposed to come through on her way to Southampton.
Out at sea Captain Townley opened his secret orders to learn that he was to take the Elizabeth to the Port of New York where her sister ship, the Mary, had been caught as the war began. He was to maintain radio silence, but he would be sent important wireless communications by the Royal Navy. He was to maintain a full blackout and take an evasive, zigzag course. Regardless of his course, Captain Townley had a tremendous advantage when it came to running the Atlantic in the ship that a German U-boat crew would most love to sink. His was one of the fastest liners on earth - or at that point without trials, she was supposed to be. As he added miles between the ship and Scotland, the Master of the Elizabeth was rapidly convinced that she was performing as her designers and builders had planned. It would have taken an extremely clever or mighty lucky U-boat captain to sink the new Queen.
The Queen Elizabeth’s secret voyage - both her trials and her unofficial maiden voyage wrapped in one - was uneventful, yet the crew would never forget that Atlantic crossing. The vessel, sleek and new as seen from the outside, was still raw on the inside. Pipes, wires, and other materials ordinarily hidden were exposed, and some not even fixed in place. Moreover, the gigantic ship was virtually empty, and crew members wandering around inside the liner found it a lonely, eerie experience. They made up about an eighth of the numbers the Elizabeth could carry when full. This new, untried hotel of the seas was a gray, lightless ghost ship skimming over the cold North Atlantic in the dangerous early days of World War II.
The Tournament of Roses - more commonly referred to as the Rose Parade - has become a New Year's Day tradition since its first inception in the 1890s. Marching bands and equestrians from all over converge on Pasadena, California to take part of this special event. It is the floats, however, that makes the parade really stick out. Using nothing but flower petals to decorate these masterpieces, countless volunteers have created designs that are truly unique and out of this world. 