A couple of old queens seen in Sydney

[Tony Smith]

No, no, no! It's not what you might first think:

Originally posted by Vets Dottir
FYI to my fine Aussie friends, I do hope that if there are any Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras events on while I'm there, that we'll pass on them? ... I'd rather see a miltary parade or ride in a dukw or cmp or some such, G'day

Karmen

Rather, the two Cunard cruiseliners, the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2 will be in Sydney together on Feb 20th.
We have looked at the subject of Troopships before, but not any of the big "Queens". The last time the two original Queens were in Sydney was 9th April 1941 in their guise of Troopships, carrying the AIF 9th Division to North Africa. The Queen Mary was 81,237-tons, and 311 metres long while the QM2 is a massive 151,400 tons and 375 metres long. The Queen Elizabeth was 83,763-tons and 314 metres long, while the QE2 (Incidentally named as the 2nd ship called Queen Elizabeth, NOT named after the current Queen) is 70,327 tons and 321 metres long. At 151,400 tons, the QM2 is the largest ship of any kind to ever sail in Australian waters. With both ships in Harbour at the same time, Al Gore predicts that water levels could rise by up to 6m while they're here!
This reminds of a joke about someone's Grandfather being "An old Bar Steward who worked for Cunard all his life", but for the life of me I can't remember the joke.


Picture: AWM pic 044567
Caption: SYDNEY, 1941-07. HMT QUEEN ELIZABETH (RT) AND HMT QUEEN MARY (LEFT) CROSSING PATHS AT THE ENTRANCE TO SYDNEY HEADS