Thread: In honour of the Queen Elizabeth 2

Originally Posted by Char

Stephen, what's a paying off penant?

A paying off penant is a special flag given as a thank you to the ship, it's one foot long for each year of service, so QE2's was 39 feet long. They made 3, one was left in Halifax (Birth Place of Sir Samuel Cunard), one in Liverpool (where Cunard Line as founded) and one in Southamtpon (QE2's home port)

Originally Posted by G33

All better now Char.

Excellent Harry!
Thank you for taking the time to downsize all your pictures!

Originally Posted by Lanky Lad

A paying off penant is a special flag given as a thank you to the ship, it's one foot long for each year of service, so QE2's was 39 feet long. They made 3, one was left in Halifax (Birth Place of Sir Samuel Cunard), one in Liverpool (where Cunard Line as founded) and one in Southamtpon (QE2's home port)

Thanks for the explanation, Stephen! I have never heard of this before and think it's a real special tradition. Do all ships and lines do this or only Cunard?

Originally Posted by Lanky Lad

A paying off penant is a special flag given as a thank you to the ship, it's one foot long for each year of service, so QE2's was 39 feet long. They made 3, one was left in Halifax (Birth Place of Sir Samuel Cunard), one in Liverpool (where Cunard Line as founded) and one in Southamtpon (QE2's home port)

Very interesting Stephen,


I knew that there was such a thing, but didn't know about the three that where left ashore on the QE2's journey or that they where called a paying off penant

You learn something new every day

Some fantastic photos of the grand old lady sailing past Calshot in the UK

This was the last time I saw the QE2, a very memorable but emotional day for me.

Originally Posted by G33

Thank for the tip char , I will remember that next time.

Most of us prefer the 800x600 size since that lets us see the whole screen.

Nice pictures, where are they taken?

Originally Posted by nealberk

Nice pictures, where are they taken?

I took these photos myself at Calshot Spit in the UK, up the river from Southampton dock. This was the same day I went to meet Nigel Esdale (managing director of P&O Cruises) at his office.


Here a map to show where Calshot is.

A great long shot of the QM2 and Artemis here.

You can see the beach and the castle , this is where I go to watch the ships sail past on my visits down to Southampton You get some really great view

Pretty!