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
Queen Elizabeth 2 Hotels, a division of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, which is owned by the Dubai government. The name of the liner as it appears on the bow and stern is "Queen Elizabeth 2", with upper and lower case lettering and an Arabic numeral 2 as opposed to the Roman numeral II. As such, it is commonly pronounced in speech as "Queen Elizabeth Two". Soon after launching, the name was shortened in common use as "QE2". In 1934, "Queen Mary" was named by and after Mary of Teck and in 1938 "Queen Elizabeth" was named by and after Elizabeth