Later, the Queen Elizabeth was called into service as a troop transport ship, carrying nearly 1 million soldiers during the war. Following the war, the ship returned to commercial service and became one of the dominant transatlantic carriers, hauling thousands of people back and forth between England and the United States. In 1968, the ship’s owner, the Cunard Steamship Company, sold the Queen Elizabeth to a company that sought to turn it into a tourist attraction and hotel in Philadelphia. However, the aging ship was deemed a fire hazard and two years later it was sold to Hong Kong businessman C.Y. Tung, who wanted to use the ship as a floating college. It was renamed Seawise University and sent to Hong Kong Harbor for refitting.
On January 8, fire broke out on the ship and virtually the entire Hong Kong firefighting force turned out to try to save it. Despite heroic efforts over two days, the old ship turned on its side and sank to the bottom of the harbor. Fortunately, no one was killed. Two years later, the wreck served as the backdrop for a key scene in The Man With the Golden Gun, a 1974 film starring Roger Moore as James Bond.
