RMS Queen Elizabeth was sold to the city of Long Beach, California. "Queen Elizabeth" was sold to a succession of buyers, most of whom had unsuccessful plans for her. Finally "Queen Elizabeth" was sold to Hong Kong businessman Tung Chao Yung, who intended to convert her into a floating university cruise ship called Seawise University. In 1972, while undergoing refurbishment in Hong Kong harbour, fire broke out aboard under unexplained circumstances and the ship was capsized by the water used to fight the fire. In 1973, the wreck was deemed an obstruction to shipping in the area, and so was partially scrapped where
RMS Queen Elizabeth and an outdoor swimming pool. With these improvements, Cunard intended to keep the ship in operation until at least the middle 1970s. However, the strategy did not prove successful due to the high fuel costs plus the ship's deep draught, which prevented her from entering various island ports, and the ship's width which preventing her from using the Panama Canal. Cunard retired "Queen Mary" in 1967 and "Queen Elizabeth" by 1969 and replaced them with a single, smaller ship, the more economical "Queen Elizabeth 2". In 1968, "Queen Elizabeth" was sold to a group of American businessmen from a company