Floating target

SHE IS an icon of her time, a name instantly recognised around the globe. From the day, 35 years ago, the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2 first entered the water she has rarely strayed far from the headlines.

Today the 70,327-ton vessel, which has become such an integral part of Southampton's life over the decades, is due back in her home port again as her crew prepare for yet another voyage.

Just like so many times before QE2 was in the news recently when it emerged that government security services carried out a full-scale investigation into a potential terrorist plot to blow up the ship last year.

At the time the moves were kept strictly under wraps and no public announcement was made that Cunard's liner was a possible high-profile target for al-Qaida.

Fame has always brought with it both ups and downs and QE2, because she has been so long the most famous ship in the world, has attracted a fair share of unwelcome attention from individuals and subversive groups with their sights set on publicity.

According to security sources, the latest incident surfaced when reports appeared in South Africa that two suspected terrorists had been arrested in Pakistan who had information that QE2 was to be attacked when the ship arrived either in Cape Town or Durban during her last world cruise.

Government departments here and in South Africa refused to discuss the suggestions and Cunard, as a matter of company policy, never comments on matters of security, but it is known that the intelligence was later discounted by experts after an in-depth probe into the matter.

Information released recently by Whitehall under the 30-year rule has also given a fascinating insight into another incident when QE2 was thought to be in serious danger from Arab extremists in 1973.

Anxious to be closely associated with the high standards and impeccable reputation of the ship, the vessel was chartered to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of Israel.

When QE2 went alongside the former Ocean Terminal in the city's Eastern Docks for a four-day stay before leaving with 700 passengers, including many prominent Jewish people, a security cordon, the like of which had never been seen before in the port, was thrown around the ship.

Royal Navy frogmen were sent into the water to make regular checks on QE2's hull to guard against limpet mines and a team of bomb disposal experts and members of the Royal Marines joined the ship in civilian clothes to go undercover and mingle with the passengers.

There were real fears at the time that terrorists would hijack the ship or that the liner would again become the victim of a bomb scare, as had happened earlier in her life.

The ship and the Ocean Terminal was sealed off by police and only those with essential duties on board were allowed up the gangways.

It was recognised that the greatest threat to the liner could be during her passage through the Mediterranean - which she undertook under a blackout- as the ship headed for Haifa and Ashod, where Israeli security experts would join the British team.

There was an almost audible sigh of relief from those in charge of security when QE2 left Southampton on Sunday, April 15, watched all along the shoreline by thousands of people who had been attracted by the publicity.

Her first port of call was Lisbon in Portugal where the local authorities closed the Salazar Bridge while the ship passed beneath.

During her time in Israel security was relentless, troops patrolled the quayside, fast patrol craft constantly circled QE2 and anti-personnel charges were exploded in the harbour at night around the highly illuminated vessel to scare of any would-be divers.

Later it was learnt that Libya had wanted to torpedo QE2 during the voyage but behind-the-scenes pressure from President Sadat of Egypt forced this plan to be abandoned.

A year earlier QE2 had been at the centre of another scare which sparked one of the most daring military missions seen in modern times when members of Britain's Special Forces parachuted into the Atlantic to search the liner.

On Wednesday, May 17, 1972, an anonymous telephone caller to Cunard's New York office said six bombs had been planted on the liner and two accomplices, an ex-convict with a death wish and a man with terminal cancer, on board the ship would explode the devices if 350,000 dollars was not handed over.

Although Cunard officials thought from the outset it was just an elaborate hoax, it was too big a risk to ignore the extortionist's demand, especially with more than 2,150 passengers and crew on board.

Back in those days the Provisional IRA terrorist campaign, with strong backing from American sympathisers, was at its peak and there were fears that, as far as the republican bombers were concerned, the renowned QE2 would be a prime target.

Against this background a plan was quickly established. A tight security clampdown was ordered and immediately news of the threat was radioed to QE2's then master, the late Captain Bill Law, who ordered an urgent search of the 13 decks and nearly 1,000 cabins.

By chance, the ship's own security department, which combed the vessel from bow to stern, had just undergone special training in bomb detection and there was no panic on board the ship when the passengers were told of the situation.

Retired New York bank vice-president Purcell Robertson said at the time: "Everyone stayed cool.

"The bridge game went on as usual. The bar had the same number of drinkers. The only thing different was that dinner was a bit late."

As QE2 powered her way through the waves a team of highly-trained bomb disposal experts from the Special Air Service and the Special Boat Service boarded a Hercules aircraft at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire for the most perilous part of the whole operation.

At the same time an RAF Nimrod aircraft took off from St Mawgan in Cornwall to act as a communications link with the Hercules and QE2.

The cloud cover was low, between 300ft and 500ft, as the transport plane circled over the liner.

On board passengers lined the decks as the servicemen, dressed in frogmen's suits, parachuted with pinpoint accuracy from above the clouds into the water just a short distance away from the ship.

A tender from QE2 plucked the team from the water and took them to the liner so they could begin another sweep of the vessel.

Finally the ship was declared safe, although an unaccompanied piece of luggage was blown up by the bomb disposal team.

Once the scare was over the servicemen were introduced to the passengers at two receptions in their honour and Captain Law offered each of the team a free trip on QE2 in gratitude for their efforts.

In New York, FBI agents relentlessly continued the hunt for the perpetrator of the threat against QE2 until finally a New York shoe repairer was charged with attempted extortion.

He was eventually found guilty and given a maximum 20-year jail sentence by a Manhattan court.