<div class="twothirds"><p>The vessel was launched by the Queen in September 1967 who will travel to Southampton for a final visit before the ship is retired from service in November. </p><p>A 41-gun Royal Salute will be fired by The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery at Green Park at midday and a 62-gun salute by the Honourable Artillery Company at the Tower of London at 1pm in honour of the anniversary. </p><p>Although the Queen acceded the throne on February 6 1952, on the death of her father George VI, she was not crowned until 16 months later, at the age of 25. </p><a name="continue"></a><p>The ceremony took place at Westminster Abbey on June 2 1953, in front of 7,600 people and was marked by street parties across the country. </p><p>Launching the 70,000 tonne QE2 was one of the Queen's earliest duties as head of state. </p><p>The ship was built to replace the first Queen Elizabeth which was in service from 1940 to 1968, but caught fire and sank in Hong Kong harbour in 1972. </p><p>In 1970, the QE2 crossed the Atlantic in a record time of less than four days and the following year the vessel's crew helped in the rescue of around 500 passengers from a burning French ship. </p><p>In 1982, it was requisitioned by the UK Government as a troop ship in the Falklands War, carrying more than 3,000 servicemen to the South Atlantic. </p><p>The vessel had to undergo a massive transformation to become a troop ship and then was turned back into a luxury liner on its safe return later in 1982. </p><p>After sailing the world on 25 world cruises, it was announced last year that the Dubai World company would buy the QE2 for &pound;50 million and turn it into a floating hotel and leisure complex in Dubai.</p></div>