At 1730 on Tuesday 22 April, Queen Mary 2 slipped her moorings and eased off the berth in Southampton’s Eastern Docks to head upstream to the Upper Turning Ground. As she slowly manoeuvred her way through the port, thousands of people gathered in the city’s Mayflower Park, with hundreds of small craft on the water, watched what was a unique and historic event – the first and last meeting of Cunard’s three liners in their home port of Southampton.

Moored along the Western Docks were Queen Victoria, berthed at the City Cruise Terminal, and Queen Elizabeth 2, and the traditional siren greeting was exchanged with each ship as QM2 passed. After turning round, she headed out to sea and again passed her two fleetmates, with the hazy evening sun glinting off the hulls of the famous Cunarders.

Visit our ybw photo gallery of the three Queens

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