Walk down any street, even in the most land-locked city, town or village, at home or abroad, ask passers-by to name a ship and, more likely than not, they will always say QE2.

Southampton's Queen Elizabeth 2 is quite simply the most famous ship in the world and as she roams the globe she has taken the name of the city with her for more than three decades.

Wherever the liner goes she causes a stir - people come out in their thousands to see QE2 and, even in Southampton, her home berth for 32 years, her familiar presence in the Eastern Docks still creates a unique atmosphere in the port each time she is alongside 38/9 berth.

She has come to epitomise five-star luxury, style and elegance, enshrining the very best of Britain's sea-going tradition and heritage, a living link with the former golden age of ocean voyages when the journey was just as important as the destination.

Throughout her long and distinguished career, which has even included military service in the Falklands War, QE2 has hardly ever been out of the news headlines, and she has become a legend in her own lifetime and now the city's 70,327 ton ship has passed another maritime milestone.

Tomorrow QE2 is due to arrive in Southampton after another Atlantic crossing from New York having now completed more than five million nautical miles since she entered service in May, 1969.

A nautical mile is just a little longer than a statutory mile and is equivalent to about 1.3 miles.

Cunard, which has its European headquarters in Southampton, says this is a world record unequalled in shipping history.

A company spokesman said: "That is equivalent to sailing around the world 230 times; sailing 1,570 consecutive Atlantic crossings or travelling to the moon and back approximately nine times!''

During this time QE2 has carried more than two and a half million passengers including royalty, leaders of state, international captains of industry, film stars and sport personalities.

Ever since Prince Charles became her first official passenger back in the 1960s, QE2 has hosted more famous faces than any other ship. The list of VIPs reads like an international Who's Who.

Among those who have travelled on board are the Queen, Diana, Princess of Wales, the Saudi royal family, the Emperor of Japan together with Nelson Mandela and Lady Thatcher, while the long list of passengers from the world of show business have included Sir Elton John, Rod Stewart, Gracie Fields, Dame Vera Lynn, Julie Andrews, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and John Travolta.

Astronaut and moon walker, Buzz Aldrin has also strolled on QE2's sumptuous decks as have veteran comedians Bob Hope and George Burns, crooner Dean Martin, dancing star Ginger Rogers and JR from television's Dallas, Larry Hagman.

Sporting names such as Frank Bruno, Sir Matt Busby, Jack Charlton, and Kenny Dalglish have all rubbed shoulders with QE2's passengers at some time or another.

During her long career Cunard has spent more than ten times as much on refurbishing and refitting QE2 as she originally cost to construct at Upper Clyde Shipbuilders.

For example in 1987 more than £110m was invested in new diesel electric engines to replace the original steam turbines, and since 1994 over £70m has been spent on wide-ranging upgrading programmes in public rooms and staterooms to maintain the ship's five star standard.

There is just something about the liner that makes her stand out from other ships and it is this charisma which resulted in more than one million people flocking to see her when she visited Liverpool for the first time or brings the traffic to a grinding halt on Australia's Sydney Harbour Bridge every time she calls there on a world cruise.

Revolutionary in concept, but retaining the sleek, classic profile of an ocean liner, QE2 was the first ship in the world designed for both cruising and a traditional transatlantic passenger service.

The flagship of the British merchant marine, she now remains the only liner in the world with the necessary speed to provide a scheduled timetable of voyages between Southampton and New York.

However, from January 2004, she will be alone on the Atlantic no longer when Cunard's new liner, the massive 150,000 ton Queen Mary 2, enters service in Southampton.

QM2, due to make her first appearance in port in December of next year, will be the largest, longest, tallest and widest passenger ship ever built in the history of shipping.