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 called The Queen Corporation (which was 85% owned by Cunard and 15% by them). The new company intended to operate the ship as a hotel and tourist attraction in Port Everglades, Florida, similar to the planned use of "Queen Mary" in Long Beach, California. "Elizabeth", as she was now called, actually opened to tourists before "Queen Mary" (which opened in 1971) but it was not to last. The climate of southern Florida was much harder on "Queen Elizabeth" than the climate of southern California was on "Queen Mary". There was some talk of permanently flooding the bilge and allowing the