The way British history was on the move in New York harbor, one might think the empire itself was staging a comeback - if only for a day.
Two Cunard ocean liners docked in Manhattan and Brooklyn as the soon-to-be-retired Queen Elizabeth 2 steamed through the Verrazano Narrows for the 1,420th and last time in a 41-year career.
Farewell: The Queen Elizabeth 2 moves past the Empire State Building down the Hudson Riverafter its final visit to New York today
The ceremonial departure of the QE2 was underway as its sister ship, the Queen Mary 2, which was also in town - docked overnight at its regular berth at the Brooklyn cruise port.
The two Cunarders, with their trademark red-and-black funnels, rendez-voused at the Statue of Liberty - the cruise-ship version of the big clock at Grand Central Terminal.
After four decades of sailing the world's oceans the QE2 will be converted into a five-star hotel in Dubai
It would be the 806th Atlantic crossing for the QE2, which in four decades logged nearly 6 million miles at sea.
Next month, the 70,000-ton liner, seriously outmoded by newer and bigger cruise ships, goes into retirement as a floating "luxury hotel, retail and entertainment destination" in Dubai, the fast-growing resort centre in the Persian Gulf.
After playing a duet with their horns that echoed across the harbor, they set sail together for the Sceptered Isle and points beyond.
The Queen Elizabeth 2 escorted by the Queen Mary 2 as they sail out of New York harbor
In this second career it follows in the wake of the first Queen Mary, which was similarly retired in 1967 and converted into a waterside hotel at Long Beach, Calif.
The QM2, at 151,000 tons more than twice the size of the dowager QE2, along with the one-year-old Queen Victoria and yet another Queen Elizabeth now destined for completion in 2010, will sail on.
Majestic: The Queen Mary 2 sails near the Statue of Liberty
Waving the flag for Britain: A woman waves her Union Jack umbrella as the QE 2 sails past
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