Ridwan
New member
When she was built,in 1940, the 'Queen Elizabeth' was the biggest ship in the world. Her length was 309 metres and her width was 35 and half metres. She used to sail across the Atlantic Ocean from England to America with 3,450 people aboard her. 2,200 of these were passengers,whose rooms were as comfortable as hotel rooms. There were also 1,250 sailors to sail the ship.
The 'Queen Elizabeth' was like a small town There were diningrooms and restaurants. There were two swimming pools. There were shops. There was a Post Office for passengers to buy postage stamps and post letters. There was a bank for passengers to leave their money.
There was even a cinema with comfortable seats for a small audience.A daily newspaper was printed on board the ship! There was a band to play music for the passengers.
During the Second World War the 'Queen Elizabeth' was used to carry soldiers, sailors and airmen where they were needed. The enemy tried to attack her and sink her but they never succeeded. She did not have any guns like the enemy warships but she had a big advantage: she was very fast. They could not catch her! She was never where they thought she was! Many times they tried to catch her when she left port but they were never successful. She used to leave harbour secretly.No one knew when she was going to leave.
After the war the 'Queen Elizabeth' became a passenger ship again.
For many years she carried people from England to America taking only four days for the journey. But then she grew old and there were not so many passengers. More and more people made the journey by air, which was quicker.
No one knew what to do with the 'Queen Elizabeth'. At last she was bought by Mr. C.Y. Tung, whose home is in Hong Kong He had a wonderful idea. He wanted to use the 'Queen Elizabeth' as a big school for young men and women. They would be able to travel around the world while they were studying. He changed the ship's name. He called her the 'Sea-Wise University' (C.Y.'s University).
He took the ship to Hong Kong for repairs. But while she was being repaired she caught fire. Smoke and flames poured out from many parts of the big ship. The fire was too big to be put out and soon most of the inside of the ship had been destroyed. Then the big ship turned over on to one side. Oil began to pour out into the sea where there was a hole in the ship's side. Everyone was afraid that the oil would spread to Hong Kong's beaches and spoil them by making them sticky with oil, but this was not allowed to happen.
So the biggest ship in the world ended her life lying on her side in Hong Kong harbour.
اسم الموضوع : The biggest ship in the world
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المصدر : The English Section
