“Yeah, and that’s what the builders of the Titanic said when they labeled her unsinkable,” Vince muttered, so that only his brother could hear.
“I would, however, suggest,” the captain continued, “that we all hold on.”
The company on the Bridge needed little more encouragement as word of the wave went out to the rest of the ship.
What seemed to take an eternity, in reality took less than a minute. In the seconds before the monstrous wave finally arrived, Thomas remembered the way it appeared to fill the entire night sky. This frightening realization was wiped from his mind the moment the wave broke with a tremendous force over the QE2’s bow. A powerful jolt shook the deck, as hundreds of tons of frothing seawater crashed over the Bridge with a resounding roar. Again the deck shuddered wildly, and Thomas got the distinct impression that they had somehow submerged, when the wheelhouse windows failed to clear.
He grasped Vince by the arm, and a surge of panic induced adrenaline coursed through his body, as one of the windshield wipers materialized.
Incredibly enough, it was still working, and as the onrushing water finally cleared, he was at long last able to see the extent of the damages. Except for a portion of bent railing and buckled deck plating, the Foredeck appeared none the worse for wear, with the superstructure itself completely untouched.
“Bit of a wave that,” observed the captain coolly.
An understatement if he ever heard one, Thomas let loose his death grip on Vince’s arm. He watched as the ship’s angled bow bit smoothly into the next thirty-foot swell that followed, and found himself with a newfound respect for the great ship on which they sailed. Though any lesser vessel would have been crushed by the giant wave, this wasn’t the case with the Queen Elizabeth 2. It had suffered attacks by both man and nature, and once again prevailed in the end.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This novel would not have been possible without the invaluable assistance of the following:
The A-team: the late Brandon Tartikoff, Robert Got tlieb, Matt Bialer, and Steven H. Kram, who generated the creative spark that got this project sailing; Lou Aronica and Stephen S. Power of Avon Books; Antti Pankakoski, Peter Bates, Bill Spears, Eilleen Daily, Julie Davis, and my many new friends at Cunard; The crew of the Queen Elizabeth 2, including Capt. Ronald Warwick, Capt. John Burton-Hall, Alan Parker, Dr. Andrew Eardley, Martin Stenzel, Dan Robinson, Gerry Ellis, John Duffy, and Brian Price; Jean Cartier Sauleau and Monika Dysart of Cartier Travel; The Royal Navy and especially Capt. A. J. Lyall, Comdr. Steve Ramm, Comdr. Geoffrey Mccready, Comdr. Mark Chichester, Comdr. Jonathan Westbrook, and the crew of the HMS Talent; It. Col. M. H. Arndt and the aircrew members of Canadian Air Force Maritime Patrol Squadron 404;
Dianne Coles and John Money of Ocean Books; Rear Adm. Kendall Pease and Comdr. Gary Shrout of the U. S. Navy; Brig. Gen. Ron Sconyers, Col.
Napoleon Byars, Maj. Les Kodlick and Chuck Davis of the U. S. Air Force; Maj. Gen. James Hobson, Maj. Matt Durham, Shirley Sikes, It. Col. Stu Pugh, Maj. Dave Horowitz, and the great folks at Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Florida; Comdr. Jim Pillsbury, It.
Comdr. Rory Calhoun, and the crew of the USS James K. Polk; The men of SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team Two, along with Comdr. Doug Lowe, It. Comdr.
Jim Fallen, and It. Don Sewell of the Navy Special Warfare Command; Director John Mcgaw, Patrick Hynes, Daniel Hoggatt, John Limbach of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Bruce Blair, senior fellow, the Brookings Institution; Special Agent Mike Tarr and Special Agent Arnette F. Heintze Jr. of the U. S. Secret Service; Carleigh Prane, research assistant extraordinaire; and last, but definitely not least, Capt. Jim Patton (USN, Ret.), friend, confidant, and consummate war-garner.
To all of you, my heartfelt thanks for sharing your fascinating worlds with me and my readers!
Queen Elizabeth 2
Keel Laid: 5th July 1965.
Launched: 20th September 1967 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Maiden Voyage: 2nd May 1969; Southampton to New York.
Built by: John Brown and Co.
(Clydebank) Ltd, Clydebank, Scotland; later Upper Clyde Shipbuilders, at a cost of 29,091,000.
Re-engined: October 1986-April 1987, by Lloyd Werft. Bremer haven Gmbh, Bremerhaven, Germany.
Port of Registry: Southampton, England.
Signal Letters: G. B.T. T. Official Number: 336703
Satellite Telephone:. 00 871 1440412 (Eastern Atlantic & Mediterranean) prefix 872 for Pacific, 873 for Indian or 874 for Western Atlantic]
Satellite Facsimile: 00 871 1441331 (prefixes as for telephone)
Telex: Telephone number, prefixed by 581 (Atlantic), 582 (Pacific) and 583 (Indian)
Classification: Lloyd’s AI.
Gross Tonnage: 70,327 GRT Net Tonnage: 30,038 n. t.
Length: 963 feet (293.53 metres)
Breadth: 105 feet 2.5 inches (32.06 metres)
Draught: 32 feet, 7.5 inches (9.94 metres)
Height:-Mast head above 200 feet 1.5 inches (61 Keeclass="underline" metres)
Funnel above 204 feet 1.5 inches (62.2 Keeclass="underline" metres)
Masthead above 167 feet 1 inch (51.054 Sea Leveclass="underline" metres)
Passenger Capacity: 1500. Approx.
Total number of passengers carried at 20th September 1997, the 30th anniversary of QE2’s launch: 1,875,000 Nautical miles travelled at 4,266,500. This is more 20th September 1997.
The Than The Total distances 30th anniversary of QE2’s travelled by the Queen launch: Elizabeth and Queen Mary together.
Deck Space: 4,500 square feet Decks: 13 Passenger Decks: 10
Electric Current in Cabins: 110/115 volts and 240 volts AC Lifts: 14 Passenger; 2 Car; 8
Store; 1 Engine Room Car Facilities: Room for 16 drive-on, drive-off
Engines: Nine 9-cylinder L58/64 (580 mm bore/640 mm stroke) medium speed turbocharged diesels, running at 400rpm and connected to individual alternators generating 10.5 megawatts each at 10,000 volts. Built by MAN B & W Diesel Gmbh, Angs burg, Germany, each engine weighs 120 tons. Alternators built by GEC, Stafford, England.
Motors: Two electric motors, one on each propeller shaft, rated at a maximum of 44 megawatts each at 144 rpm. Built by GEC, Rugby, England, the motors each weigh over 400 tons and are over 9 metres in diameter. They are the largest marine motors ever built. The diesel electric system produces 130,000lip, which is the most powerful propulsion plant of any merchant ship in the world. The 95 MW total power output is enough to light a city the size of Southampton. QE2 is thus the fastest merchant ship in operation.
Boilers: Nine waste heat recovery exhaust gas boilers mounted on the engine exhaust uptakes, and two oil fired boilers. These produce steam for fuel heating, domestic fresh water heating, heating of swimming pools and steam for the laundry equipment and kitchens. Built by Sunrod, Sweden.
Propellers: Two outward-turning controllable pitch. Diameter 19 feet 8 inches (6.0 metres). The propeller shafts are both 262.5it (80m) long and 23.2 in (590mm) in diameter. Built by Lips, Drunen, Netherlands.
Bow Thrusters: Two stone Kame Wa of 1,000 lip per unit.
Stabilisers: Four Denny Brown, each fin projects from the ship’s side by 12 it (3.65m) and is 6it (1.85m) wide. They reduce rolling by 60 %.
Speed: Maximum 32.5 knots, service 28.5 knots. Service speed is achievable using eight of the nine engines.
Tank Capacities: Fresh Water-1,852.0 tonnes Laundry Water-489.0 tonnes Diesel Oil-206.8 tonnes Fuel Oil-4,381.4 tonnes Lubricating Oil-335.7 tonnes Ballast-4,533.0 tonnes Feed Water-113.8 tonnes Water Production: Four Serck vacuum evaporators, producing 240 tonnes each per day, and one reverse osmosis plant producing 400 tonnes. Total production is 1,360 tonnes per day, and consumption about 850 tonnes per day, equivalent to 12 of the ship’s swimming pools.