Cunard QE2 Birthday / Greeting Card by Maritime Artist Malcolm Root

Though officially named the Queen Elizabeth 2, this magnificent liner will always be the 'QE2' to those who served on and sailed in her. Britain's premier passenger ship for over a quarter of a century, QE2 was also for a great part of that the largest civil ship afloat. Built in the John Brown shipyard of Clydebank, the ship was to enter into service with the equally famous Cunard line in 1968 and began the transition of large ships operating more as cruise ships rather than as the more traditional liner. In this new guise she was supremely successful but would be used, as her predecessors the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth had, as a troopship when she was requisitioned by the British government for service during the Falklands War of 1982. A true legend, the ship has recently been taken out of service, though it is likely that she will be preserved in some form.