John Chillingworth visits QE2 in Dubai

[Rob Lightbody]

Posted with permission from John's Linkedin page - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chiefchilly_a-visit-to-qe2-40-years-after-first-sailing-activity-7205172681367769088-h4NP

Within the comments section, are replies from various people John worked with related to QE2, including the managing director of Lloyd Werft!  It is worth a read through.

A visit to QE2 40 years after first sailing Chief Engineer

Paying a visit to the power plant on QE2

It was 40 years ago today, at the age of 31, that I first sailed as chief engineer on the ship, she was a steam ship at that time and could be a headache maintaining a 30 knot schedule with only 3 boilers, Queen Mary had 24 boilers.

Having grown up on the ship since the age of 18

I had experienced most of the major technical events such as adrift dead in the water for 3 weeks in the Bermuda Triangle, being caught in the eye of a hurricane and rolling over 45 degrees, several fires, main engine turbine failures due to misalignment . It’s the only ship I know were 3 of my predecessors were retired medical , 2 with nervous breakdown and one heart attack .

I had a great team working with me, over half had trained me and progressively we regained a reliable power plant so much so that when we went for re engining in 1986 the management said that if she was in this condition 2 years previously they most probably re engined her . That said I think it was the right decision for her longevity as she steamed 2.5 million miles with steam and just over the same as diesel electric . I was fortunate I was the only chief to sail her with both power plants.

it’s nice to meet up with the current QE2 technical team that are working on making the engine room presentable after her being run for 7 years alongside Dubai on her own power with minimal maintenance . she was finally shut down in 2014 . Now They are planning on having engine room tours to add to the current tour offer in the next few months. My uniform is now on loan and on display on the ship.


Photos - Johns Uniform, now on display.

11 June 2024 QE2 main control room having a good chat with the ships current Chief Engineer and friend Sivadas Sivadas



Reply to Friedrich Norden -

Hi Friedrich , Lloyd Werft will always be linked to QE2 and for many of us we have had a long special association with you and Bremerhaven.
As you know I worked with your Father on many projects from 1982 including the re engining which really was a mammoth task in such a short time frame.
I was pleased to be the chief that did the final acceptance trials one year after delivery and we managed to do 32 knots with all 9 generators and full throttle however we still had power available in addition I decided to knock the AC off which gave us another 2 MW and the Lips engineer and I adjusting the propellor blade limit stops past their limit so we could utalise the extra power . Which gave us 34 knots , going against the Gulf Stream for 2 hours, We then put the limiters back to original . I didn’t tell anyone where the secret screw was located so ultimately the propulsion would never have the same power again😀

[Rob Lightbody]

Reposted from John Chillingworth's LinkedIn Page with permission - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiefchilly

Queen Elizabeth 2 Front office team.

Apart from the enjoyment of discussing Historic details about the ship with the technical and heritage guys, the ship has a great front office team that provide a great guest experience. I was fortunate to give them a break and enjoy the skyline of Dubai.
They come from all over the world, Bangladesh, Columbia, Philippines, Thailand, Egypt, Sri Lanka.
In the days of when ship was operating as a ship, they would have been called Lady Officers or Bureau Girls by the crew.
The Bureau was the reception on the ship where passengers would go to seek assistance with their cabin or to get stamps to post letters.