Bump! Copenhagen August 1996

[Michael Gallagher]

QE2 arrived in Copenhagen for an overnight stay on Sunday 4 August 1996 and docked in the Langelinie astern of Gripsholm (the former Sagafjord).

Gripsholm sailed that day but at 2040 hours, two miles off Landskrona, the ship grounded in the Oresund off Sweden with 600 passengers and 325 crew on board. The next day the passengers were taken off by Gripsholm’s own launches and delivered ashore in an operation that took around six hours. After a bunker had offloaded 1,750 tonnes of fuel Gripsholm was refloated on Wednesday 7 August 1996 by five tugs and towed back to Copenhagen.

On Monday 5 August 1996 QE2 was pinned alongside by very strong onshore winds and could not get off despite the bow thrusters and the use of two tugs. QE2’s bow and stern lines snapped and QE2 was blown back onto the quayside, just missing a small tanker, damaging her steering flat and a causing a 50-metre scrape to the stern areas of the hull. QE2 remained alongside and finally departed around 1930 hours after more tugs arrived from Malmo.

As QE2 sailed out of Copenhagen she passed Gripsholm high and dry on the sandbar.

The steering flat and hull dent were repaired during QE2’s 1996 refit in Southampton.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Thank you for this, Michael!

That must have been quite a storm... I cannot off-hand remember any other time when QE2 was unable to sail off because of the weather.

[Clydebuilt1971]

Ach a wee bit of catalloy, some paint and she'd be right as rain 

Thanks as always Michael!

Gav

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you for this, Michael!

That must have been quite a storm... I cannot off-hand remember any other time when QE2 was unable to sail off because of the weather.

Oh yes there were a few times, in fact it became a bit of a joke onboard that the two Captains we had for a while were, 'Over night Wright' & 'Miss a port McNaught'!

Captain Wrights came about following an incident when in Palma de Mallorca, we were only in for the day and were due to sail at 1800. Unfortunately as the afternoon wore on the wind got up to a speed where it was pushing QE2 against the jetty! Sailing was delayed for a while in the hope that the wind speed decreased, o possibly even veered enough to allows us to get away, sadly neither happened so the decision was taken to stay overnight, cue cheers from the crew who were going to head for Magaluf!!!  Revised sailing time was then put as 0700 the following morning and at anytime up to 0630, lots of very weary crew, and a few passengers, were drifting back onboard.
Unfortunately at 0700 the wind was not better and possibly even stronger, a decision had to then be made. do we request a tug from Barcelona, costing many thousands of $ as the local tug was not powerful enough to pull QE2 off the berth, the decision taken another day in Palma, plus another overnight was granted.
Come the next morning at around 0530 the tug from Barcelona duly arrived at about the same time as the winded dropped and veered, thereby allowing QE2 to move off the berth under her own steam! The Barcelona tug sailed in, did a circle of the harbour and sailed back with us to our next port, Barcelona!
Hence the nickname, 'overnight Wright'!

[Thomas Hypher]

Thank you for this, Michael!

That must have been quite a storm... I cannot off-hand remember any other time when QE2 was unable to sail off because of the weather.

Being stuck in Cherbourg under (I think) Captain Nick Bates in October 2004 comes to mind. That was why we sailed (after a Captain change to Ian McNaught and a significant crew change with all the logistical chaos that caused in addition to an already disrupted turnaround) from Southampton at Midnight and were eating dinner at the same time too! We arrived around 10am that morning at QEII Terminal to find QE2 nowhere to be seen and we were then shuffled between QEII Terminal and Mayflower Terminal until she arrived in the afternoon as they weren't sure where she would dock. The weather wasn't a particular issue in Southampton so I recall which led to quite some confusion at the time and for years after until I spoke with a shipping friend who was on the preceding voyage! I gather Cunardqueen was also onboard the proceeding voyage if my memory is correct? They had quite the weather in the English Channel and we went into a still foul Southwest Approaches and Bay of Biscay whilst successfully making up the 7 hour delay in a Force 9 gusting Force 10 as I've recounted elsewhere on this forum a few times. McNaught always did like to put her accelerator pedal down and if I hadn't been praying to the porcelain gods every 2 minutes it would've been exhilarating - I sure do have the vivid memories though! My Dad went up on deck, not being seasick, and had what I suspect was his most exhilarating QE2 experience given he was getting soaked in spray on Boat Deck Aft roughly 800 feet from where she was burying her bow into the swells at around 28 knots! Now find a cruise ship doing that these days or heck even QM2 at that speed...