Let's have a chat about Cunard's funnels. Or more specifically Queen Anne's funnel which has just
been craned on board the ship at the Fincantieri shipyard where the vessels being built. This
process is known as the funnel lift and it sees the entire funnel unit being lifted onto the
ship in its entirety, complete with the Cunard funnel colors applied it's an important milestone
for the 183 year old Cunard Line given it adds the most recognizable feature of the new ship,
its funnel so let's have a look at this in a bit more detail, but first let me introduce myself,
hi I'm Chris Frame and for those of you who don't know me I'm a maritime history author and
lecturer I'm also the co-host of The Big Cruise Podcast, I've linked it in the description below,
if you're interested in cruising, cruise ships or maritime history,
I think you're going to like it here, so hopefully you'll subscribe at the end of this video.
Queen Anne will be the 249th ship to sail under the Cunard flag and when she enters service
in 2024 it'll be the first time since 1999 that Cunard has had four ships in their fleet. The last
time Cunard had a fleet of this size, the brand had just been acquired by Carnival Corporation,
the fleet consisted of the QE2 the Vistafjord, Royal Viking Sun, Sea Goddess I and Sea Goddess
II, now if you didn't know that Cunard had a ship called Sea Goddess or Royal Viking Sun,
you're probably not alone but don't worry, I have a whole heap of information about these ships on
my Cunard website, at chriscunard.com I've linked it in the description. In 1999 Sea Goddess I and
Sea Goddess II as well as Royal Viking Sun were transferred to Seabourn Cruise Line, at the time
Seabourn and Cunard were being operated under the same holding company, Cunard line Limited.
Vistafjord was refurbished and renamed Caronia, to sail alongside QE2, the two ships were joined
by the Queen Mary 2 in 2004 before Caronia retired from service in 2005. QE2 and Queen
Mary 2 were joined by Queen Victoria in 2007 and then QE2 retired in 2008. Finally Queen Elizabeth
entered service in 2010 and we have the fleet as it is today awaiting the arrival of Queen Anne.
Now of the Queen Anne's new funnel, Cunard says that 'the distinctive red and black funnels have
adorned their ships for more than 150 years, becoming synonymous with the company's rich
seafaring heritage and reputation for luxury Ocean Travel'. They further added that their funnel
designs 'are the brainchild of Robert Napier the shipyard owner who built some of Cunard's
earliest ships.' Now Robert Napier did design the funnels of the first purpose-built Cunarders,
as he was in charge of the shipyard that designed and built the first four ships. Cunard's current
funnel shape actually takes inspiration from QE2, so the current design was actually first
seen on board QE2. In the late 1960s QE2's funnel was a unique design that incorporated the funnel
uptake and the cowling as well as the large scoop at the base, to direct air upwards and push the
smoke and soot away from the aft decks. It is recreations of this design that is seen on the
three current Queens as well as the new Queen Ann. The Striking red and black funnel color scheme was
introduced during the early careers of the first purpose-built Cunarders, Britannia Caledonia,
Acadia and Colombia. The color was created by applying a paint like mixture with a recipe,
that actually included buttermilk, to help reduce the peeling of the paint on the funnel.
When the funnel is heated up, it interacted with the buttermilk, which turned the paint
color a distinctive orange red, which Cunard is known for, the black bands that you see on
the original Cunard funnels were literally black Expansion Joints that held the different funnel
segments together, while the black top at the tip of the funnels was painted this way to hide
the dark soot marks left by the original coal burning boiler. Interestingly there was a gap
in the use of the red and black funnel colors between 1969 and 1982. At the time Cunard had
decided to drop its traditional funnel colors and so QE2 and all the Cunard ships thereafter
wore a black and white funnel colors. This was a purposeful if not somewhat underwhelming attempt
to differentiate Cunard's then new fleet from the ocean liners of days gone by. Fortunately in 1982
the red and black funnel colors were restored and have been worn by Cunard liners ever since.
At the funnel lift Cunard also noted that the 'Design Concepts for their newest ship have
been founded on Heritage craftsmanship style storytelling and Innovation.' I'm personally
very excited to see Queen Anne enter service and it'll be interesting to see Cunard operating with
four passenger ships. I hope to bring you more updates as a ship nears completion.
Thanks so much for watching and I hope you found this video interesting if you did please consider
giving it a like and don't forget to subscribe if you're interested in Cunard content or other
maritime history, thanks once again for watching and until next time I hope to 'sea you on board'.
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