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Description

In today’s ships that never happened and imaginary ocean liners is an imaginary four stacker from the future, Cunard’s Empress Matilda! In 2050, Cunard ordered their next ocean liner when the RMS Queen Mary 2 was nearing the end of her service life. Cunard anticipated not needing a ship as large as QM2, so the Empress Matilda was built to be comparable to the original Queens Mary and Elizabeth.

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Empress Matilda's keel was laid at Harland and Wolff in Belfast on 3 August 2052. She was christened by the Queen Consort and floated out of drydock on 12 April 2053. On 8 May 2054, Empress Matilda commenced her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. She also served as a part-time cruise ship with her cruising-only companion, the two-funneled Lady Jane. Occasionally one would see aboard a past US President, a past British Prime Minister, a pop diva, a K-pop band, or a celebrated stage and screen actor, many of whom you would not recognize because they haven’t been born yet!

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In 2066, the Empress Matilda partook in the Millennium Celebration of William the Conqueror’s conquest of England in Southampton, where she was visited by King William V and Queen Catherine. Empress Matilda also helped with the temporary evacuation of Tristan da Cunha following the eruption of Queen Mary’s Peak in 2078. She was also part of the New Century celebration in 2100. For the most part, the Empress Matilda’s service life was happy and uneventful, and she retired from service in 2107. As of 2109, there are prospective buyers in Cape Town, South Africa; Mombasa, Kenya; Mumbai, India; Alexandria, Egypt; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, interested in purchasing her and turning her into a hotel, as has been done with the previous Cunard Queens.

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The names Empress Matilda and Lady Jane are in line with the unofficial Cunard tradition of naming ships after queens regnant (Mary I & II, Elizabeth I & II, Anne, & Victoria, though yes, I know *technically* the Marys and Elizabeths are actually named after Queen Consort Mary of Teck (1867-1953) and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (1900-2002)). Empress Matilda intrigued me because my historiographic reading of her and her war for the English throne (the Anarchy, 1138-1153) is that she was willing to concede that some battles can only be solved by the next generation, and that being unwilling to let go will only prolong or increase pain and bloodshed (see: Putin and Ukraine). How she was able to broker peace by placing her son on the throne but not rule herself still makes her a winner, and I see great wisdom in that.

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The ship’s bow and funnel are modeled after the Cunard Princess (1975) and Cunard Countess (1976). I liked the unique look of the funnels and wanted to see what a four-funneled, larger version of them would look like, and I think they look pretty nice! The superstructure is modeled after the Queen Mary 2 (2004) but of a more modest height. You can also see I made several modifications between the pencil sketch and the colorized image: the ship grew longer, the shape of the stern changed to emphasize the new length, and I made the spacing of the verandahs and expansion joints more regular. I also changed the dimensions to be more realistic. Unfortunately, doing so altered its hand-drawn character, so I’ve decided to minimize touchups beyond coloring in future drawings. The Lady Jane (if I ever get around to drawing her) would be similar to Empress Matilda in design, but two decks taller and with only the last two funnels, like a British SS Michelangelo or Raffaello.

Description

In today’s ships that never happened and imaginary ocean liners is an imaginary four stacker from the future, Cunard’s Empress Matilda! In 2050, Cunard ordered their next ocean liner when the RMS Queen Mary 2 was nearing the end of her service life. Cunard anticipated not needing a ship as large as QM2, so the Empress Matilda was built to be comparable to the original Queens Mary and Elizabeth.

.

Empress Matilda's keel was laid at Harland and Wolff in Belfast on 3 August 2052. She was christened by the Queen Consort and floated out of drydock on 12 April 2053. On 8 May 2054, Empress Matilda commenced her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. She also served as a part-time cruise ship with her cruising-only companion, the two-funneled Lady Jane. Occasionally one would see aboard a past US President, a past British Prime Minister, a pop diva, a K-pop band, or a celebrated stage and screen actor, many of whom you would not recognize because they haven’t been born yet!

.

In 2066, the Empress Matilda partook in the Millennium Celebration of William the Conqueror’s conquest of England in Southampton, where she was visited by King William V and Queen Catherine. Empress Matilda also helped with the temporary evacuation of Tristan da Cunha following the eruption of Queen Mary’s Peak in 2078. She was also part of the New Century celebration in 2100. For the most part, the Empress Matilda’s service life was happy and uneventful, and she retired from service in 2107. As of 2109, there are prospective buyers in Cape Town, South Africa; Mombasa, Kenya; Mumbai, India; Alexandria, Egypt; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, interested in purchasing her and turning her into a hotel, as has been done with the previous Cunard Queens.

***

The names Empress Matilda and Lady Jane are in line with the unofficial Cunard tradition of naming ships after queens regnant (Mary I & II, Elizabeth I & II, Anne, & Victoria, though yes, I know *technically* the Marys and Elizabeths are actually named after Queen Consort Mary of Teck (1867-1953) and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (1900-2002)). Empress Matilda intrigued me because my historiographic reading of her and her war for the English throne (the Anarchy, 1138-1153) is that she was willing to concede that some battles can only be solved by the next generation, and that being unwilling to let go will only prolong or increase pain and bloodshed (see: Putin and Ukraine). How she was able to broker peace by placing her son on the throne but not rule herself still makes her a winner, and I see great wisdom in that.

.

The ship’s bow and funnel are modeled after the Cunard Princess (1975) and Cunard Countess (1976). I liked the unique look of the funnels and wanted to see what a four-funneled, larger version of them would look like, and I think they look pretty nice! The superstructure is modeled after the Queen Mary 2 (2004) but of a more modest height. You can also see I made several modifications between the pencil sketch and the colorized image: the ship grew longer, the shape of the stern changed to emphasize the new length, and I made the spacing of the verandahs and expansion joints more regular. I also changed the dimensions to be more realistic. Unfortunately, doing so altered its hand-drawn character, so I’ve decided to minimize touchups beyond coloring in future drawings. The Lady Jane (if I ever get around to drawing her) would be similar to Empress Matilda in design, but two decks taller and with only the last two funnels, like a British SS Michelangelo or Raffaello.