Editing RMS Queen Elizabeth (section)

==As a liner==
[[File:RMS Queen Elizabeth at Southampton 1960 (1).jpg|thumb|RMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' at [[Southampton]], [[England]], in 1960]]
Following the end of the Second World War, ''Queen Elizabeth'' was refitted and furnished as an ocean liner,<ref name=qe/> while her running mate ''Queen Mary'' remained in her wartime role and grey appearance except for her funnels, which were repainted in the company's colours. For another year, her sibling did military service, returning troops and [[war bride|G.I. brides]] to the United States while ''Queen Elizabeth'' was overhauled at the Firth of Clyde Drydock, in [[Greenock]], by the John Brown Shipyard.

[[File:StateLibQld 1 143895 Queen Elizabeth (ship).jpg|left|thumb|RMS ''Queen Elizabeth'']]
Six years of war service had never permitted the formal sea trials to take place, so they were now finally undertaken. Under the command of Commodore [[James Gordon Partridge Bisset|Sir James Bisset]], the ship travelled to the Isle of [[Isle of Arran|Arran]] to carry them out. On board was the ship's namesake, [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]], and her two daughters, Princesses [[Elizabeth II|Elizabeth]] and [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Margaret]].<ref name=qe/> During the trials, Queen Elizabeth took the wheel for a brief time, and the two young princesses recorded the two measured runs with stopwatches that they had been given for the occasion. Bisset was under strict instructions from Sir Percy Bates, who was also aboard the trials, that all that was required from the ship was two measured runs of no more than 30 knots and that she was not permitted to attempt to attain a higher speed record than ''Queen Mary''.<ref name="ssmaritime.com">{{Cite web|url=http://ssmaritime.com/RMS-Queen-Elizabeth.htm|title=RMS Quen Elizabeth - 1939|website=ssmaritime.com}}</ref> ''Queen Elizabeth''{{'}}s engines were capable of driving her to speeds of over 32 knots.<ref name="ssmaritime.com"/> After her trials ''Queen Elizabeth'' finally entered passenger service, allowing Cunard White Star to launch the long-planned two-ship weekly service to New York.<ref>Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 396</ref> Despite specifications similar to those of ''Queen Mary'', ''Queen Elizabeth'' never held the [[Blue Riband]], for Cunard White Star chairman Sir Percy Bates asked that the two ships not to compete against each other.<ref name="ssmaritime.com"/>

The ship ran aground on a sandbank off [[Southampton]] on 14 April 1947, and was re-floated the following day.<ref name=qe/>

In 1955, during an annual overhaul at Southampton, England, ''Queen Elizabeth'' was fitted with underwater fin stabilisers to smooth the ride in rough seas. Two retractable fins were fitted on each side of the hull, allowing fuel savings in smooth seas and during docking.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=biYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=-PA22 "Big Liner Sprouts Fins."] ''Popular Science'', June 1955, pp. 122–124.</ref> On 29 July 1959, she was in a collision with the American freighter ''American Hunter'' in foggy conditions in [[New York Harbor]] and was holed above the waterline.<ref name="Times300759">{{cite newspaper The Times |title=Liner Queen Elizabeth in Collision |date=30 July 1959 |page=6 |issue=54526 |column=A}}</ref>

[[File:RMSQE.jpg|thumb|left|In [[New York Harbor]] approaching [[Manhattan]], 1965]]
[[File:RMS Queen Elizabeth at Southampton 1967 (5).jpg|thumb|RMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' at [[Southampton]] in 1967]]

Together with ''Queen Mary'' and in competition with the American liners {{SS|United States}} and {{SS|America}}, ''Queen Elizabeth'' dominated the [[transatlantic crossing|transatlantic]] passenger trade until their fortunes began to decline with the advent of the faster and more economical jet [[airliner]] in the late 1950s.<ref name=palaces/> As passenger numbers declined, the liners became uneconomic to operate in the face of rising fuel and labour costs. For a short time the ''Queen Elizabeth'', then under the command of Commodore Geoffrey Trippleton Marr, attempted a dual role of alternating her usual transatlantic route with cruising between New York and [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]].<ref name=qe/> For this new tropical excursion the ship received a major refit in 1965, with a new [[Lido (swimming pool)|Lido]] deck added to her aft section, enhanced [[air conditioning]], and an outdoor swimming pool. With these improvements, Cunard intended to keep the ship in operation until at least the mid-1970s.<ref>Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 409</ref> However, the strategy did not prove successful, owing to the ship's deep [[Draft (hull)|draught]], which prevented her from entering various island ports, and high fuel costs. She was also too wide for transiting the [[Panama Canal]], limiting travel to the Pacific.

Cunard retired ''Queen Mary'' in 1967 and ''Queen Elizabeth'' upon her final Atlantic crossing to New York on 5 November 1968.<ref name="auto"/> The two liners were replaced with the new, smaller, more economical ''[[Queen Elizabeth 2]]''.