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Queen Mary 2

Three Cunard 'queens' in historic meetup

Gene Sloan
USA TODAY
Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth meet in the Mersey, Liverpool for a gathering in front of the Three Graces and thousands of people on the riverside.

It was a big day for Cunard fans today in Liverpool, England as all three of line's ships met in the city for the first time.

As can be seen in our photo tour of the historic event in the carousel above, hundreds of thousands of spectators came out for the rendezvous of the "three queens" -- Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria.

The meeting was part of a citywide celebration of Cunard's 175th anniversary. Liverpool was the longtime home of Cunard.

The three Cunard queens are the largest passenger vessels ever to muster together on Liverpool's Mersey River. The three ships sailed single file down the river to Liverpool's Pier Head with its iconic "three graces" -- the Royal Liver Building, Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building.

Queen Mary 2 then slowed in the river opposite the Cunard Building – Cunard's headquarters for nearly 50 years until 1967 – while her sister ships stopped ahead of her to create a three-ship line-up watched by spectators on both sides of the river.

Just 1,312 feet apart, the queens then performed an 180-degree, synchronized turn to starboard. At the midpoint of the turn, all three ships lay across the river, their bows set against the backdrop of the three historic buildings.

In honor of the line's 175th anniversary, Queen Mary 2 sounded 175 on her ship's whistle – one blast, followed by seven short blasts followed by five more.

Completing a full turn, the vessels then moved into an arrowhead formation with the Queen Mary 2 just ahead of her two sisters before the vessels lined up across the river to salute the Cunard Building.

Click HERE to see the photos above in larger format.

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