Britain: The New Queen

“I have thought of everything right down from Queen Victoria to Jackie Kennedy,” mused Sir John Montague Brocklebank, 48, chairman of Cunard Steamship Co. Like a proud parent, he was debating what to name the successor ship to the line’s elegant but aging (27 years) Queen Mary. Last week in London, Sir John made the long-deferred announcement that Cunard will build a new, 2,000-passenger luxury liner for the transatlantic run and for winter cruising in warmer waters. Since the lady is still incognito, she is widely known as Q4.*

The single-smokestack ship will be nearer in spirit to Jackie than to Victoria, with a lot less poundage but all the speed, class, and capacity of the Queen Mary and the 23-year-old Queen Elizabeth. More than 20,000 tons lighter than either of the reigning Queens, the 58,000-ton ship will cost more than twice as much, an estimated $62 million. The British builder has not yet been chosen, and the launching will not be until 1967.

Cruising at 28.5 knots, Q4 will make the Atlantic run in five days. She may also make Cunard some money there. The 123-year-old line lost $7,900,000 in 1962, and Sir John blames the losses primarily on fall-off in Atlantic bookings by first-class passengers, who apparently prefer steely newness to fading elegance. In direct competition with the Queens, the French Line’s new France has been better than 90% full so far this year.

Cunard also faces sharper competition from the airlines, which already carry 21 times as many passengers over the Atlantic as ships do. The International Air Transport Association last week continued discussing lower fares at a meeting in Salzburg. I.A.T.A. is expected to bring North Atlantic fares down by about 13% or so, to roughly $230 one-way tourist between New York and London, v. $201 tourist class on ships.

* Q3, never built, was supposed to have been a larger ship, but was abandoned in 1961 as too costly.