When Cunard announced their plans to build Queen Mary 2 the first renditions of the ship showed a
vessel with a large Cunard funnel of similar designs that found on board the older QE2.
But fast forward to today and it's pretty easy to see that QM2's funnel
is much shorter than QE2's, and much shorter than the original renderings of the ship.
So let's investigate why this is but first let me introduce myself. Hi I'm Chris Frame I'm a
maritime history author and lecturer, I speak at maritime museums and onboard cruise ships
around the world. I'm also the co-host of The Big Cruise Podcast, I'll link it in the description,
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 the video?
[Music]
To get an idea as to the design of QM2's funnel we need to step back to 1987. The QM2's predecessor
QE2 had just finished a massive refit at the Lloyd Werft Shipyard in Bremerhaven. Here the ship's
original thin but tall funnel had been rebuilt to accommodate additional engine exhausts and
the result was a truly massive structure. QE2's original funnel was the first among the Cunard
Fleet to incorporate the distinctive design that we know and love today, with the black smokestack,
the red cowling and the white scoop, designed to direct air up and over the structure and push the
smoke and soot away from the after decks. When the structure was rebuilt in 1987 the same basic
design was maintained - it had after all been a highly effective design - but the 1987 variant was
supersized to make it thick enough to accommodate an array of exhaust and heat exchangers for the
nine brand new diesel engines. QE2's funnel was so large that it overhung the top deck of the
ship and completely changed QE2's appearance - but it was bold and powerful looking and made QE2 even
more recognizable, so it's no surprise that when Carnival (Cunard) announced their plans to build
the first true ocean liner in a generation, a big tall thick QE2 style funnel was included
in the original artist's renditions. But why did this plan change? Well the ship that ultimately
became QM2 is a very different liner to QE2. While QE2 was purposely built smaller than the previous
Cunard Queens to allow her to be efficient in cruising, QM2's design took a different approach.
QM2 was the first ocean liner designed in a generation. As such passenger expectations
had changed. QM2 needed to be a larger ship to accommodate an extensive selection of balcony
cabins, in addition the ship would introduce new features, including a sea going planetarium,
double height decks, and a Grand Lobby, all adding height to the ship. Furthermore the
ship is powered by both diesel engines stored deep within the hull and gas turbines which were
positioned atop the vessel, adding extra height to her funnel casing area. This is actually what that
big white box is with the lettering 'Queen Mary 2' the gas turbines are found inside this box.
What resulted is the largest ocean liner yet built with QM2 outstripping all other liners in length,
width, height, and gross tonnage. But despite her size, QM2's purpose was to replace QE2 on
the transatlantic run between England and America and in America the port she's expected to visit
most is New York. At the entry to New York Harbor sits the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. All traffic
entering the harbour needs to pass under this critical roadway. At high tide the bridge has
a clearance of 69 meters or 228 feet and this posed a problem for QM2, as designers had to
contend with an air draft limit of 62 meters or 203 feet from the water line to the highest point
of the ship. When those original renderings were drawn, the extra height for the gas turbine casing
had yet to be included in the design, but with a like-for-like QE2 style funnel the much taller
QM2 would be unable to pass under the bridge, and this would make her primary purpose redundant. So
designers shortened the funnel to allow QM2 a clearance of 3 meters or 9.8 feet at high
water in the midpoint of the arch of the bridge - something that is perfectly safe but looks quite
daunting from the top decks of the ship! I recall thinking how close it looked to the ship in 2019
when I sailed into New York Harbour for my first time on board QM2, as well as noticing how close
QM2's funnel appeared to bridges and other ports, such as Hong Kong and San Francisco.
So now we know why QM2's funnel is smaller than QE2's and that it was shortened due to
the clearance needed to pass under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. But were there any other changes
made to the design of the funnel? The answer is yes! Remember that white wind scoop that I showed
you on board QE2? Well on board QM2 the smaller QE2 style wind scoop wouldn't be as effective at
keeping the soot off the aft decks of the ship, now that she had a shorter funnel, so the scoop
was enlarged making it extremely effective at pushing air up and over the shorter funnel thus
keeping the beautiful aft terraced decks clean for swimmers, sunbathers, and onlookers. A huge thank
you goes to Stephen Payne for providing some insight into the QM2's funnel for the creation
of this video. Thanks so much for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video, if you did don't
forget to give it a like and please don't forget to subscribe for future Maritime History or
cruising content. Thanks once again for watching and until next time I hope to 'sea' you on board.
[MUSIC]