Special ceremonies at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard near Trieste will be held tomorrow to mark the float out of Cunard’s newest ship, Queen Elizabeth.

Cunard’s president and managing director, Peter Shanks, will be joined by 79-year old Florence (Dennie) Farmer who will be guest of honour at the event. Dennie’s husband, Willie Farmer, joined Cunard in September 1938 and served as chief engineer on both Queen Elizabeth and QE2 until retirement in October 1979. Since her husband’s death Dennie has sailed with Cunard many times and her link the two previous Queen Elizabeth ships is unparalleled. In recognition of this Cunard has bestowed on Dennie the honour, in Italian tradition, of being ‘madrina’ to the third Queen Elizabeth.

The first ceremony will involve the welding of significant coins beneath the mast of Queen Elizabeth for good luck. Three coins have been chosen – a half crown dated 1938 (the year the first Queen Elizabeth was launched), a sovereign dated 1967 (the year QE2 was launched) and a sovereign dated 2010 to acknowledge the fact that the new Queen Elizabeth is being floated out in 2010.

After the coin ceremony, the focus will move to the dockside where the ship will be blessed, and a bottle of Italian prosecco will be smashed against the hull by the madrina. The valves of the drydock will then be opened so the ship meets the water for the first time.

Leave a Reply

All comments at The Mail Buoy are moderated.

Thanks for stopping by!