Changes: Queen Zenobia

Revision as of 20:22, 14 November 2013

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Queen Zenobia

The Queen Zenobia was a cruise liner operated by the Paraguas Line Company until 2003. It was used as a base for the bioterrorist organization Il Veltro in 2004; following that it was used for a year as a secret, military-funded laboratory to test the t-Abyss Virus. The ocean liner was named after Zenobia, the queen of the briefly-existing Palmyrene Empire.

History

The Queen Zenobia was constructed in 1978 along with its sister ships, the Queen Semiramis and Queen Dido. Both ships' designs were based on blueprints drawn-up by the architect George Trevor before his disappearance in 1968. The trio were to represent a replication of the high-class liners of the 1930s, thought to be the "golden age of cruise ships". The Queen Zenobia, while in her original service, continued to be one of the most popular cruise ships of the 20th century.

In the non-canon Queen Zenobia Cruise Lines advert, the ship was owned by the Queen Zenobia Cruise Lines company, and operated with two sister ships: Queen Olethea and Queen Septima.

When air travel became far less expensive and far more popular, the concept of long sea-faring voyages became dated. By the second half of the 1980s, the trio appeared to be destined for the scrap yard until an unexpected purchase was made by Umbrella's cruise lines subsidiary, the Paraguas Line Company.

Shortly after their purchase, the three received a great overhaul in their designs, with the period-'30s steam turbines being replaced by a diesel-electric propulsion system to keep up with the times. Along with the renovation work was the expansion of the ships' cabin areas and their respective holds. State-of-the-art technology was brought onto the liners to make them the forefront in modern cruising.

After its restoration, the Queen Zenobia, as the flagship of the Paraguas Line, began conducting round-the-world tours and excursions along South America, with the start and finishing points in the route being the Mediterranean. In the first years of the 21st century, the Zenobia's tour became a sail along the North African countries along the Mediterranean.^[1]

Story-screen03 — The ships Mansion-like interior draws influence of George Trevor.

In 2003, the Raccoon Trials found Umbrella liable for damages for the 1998 Raccoon City Destruction Incident and the United States' 'Suspension of Business Decree' against the company was upheld, leading to its bankruptcy. Unable to support itself in light of its parent's public demise, the Paragus Line Company soon after filed for bankruptcy, and the ship was again fated to be scrapped. Strangely, it disappeared soon after, having been secretly acquired by US Director General Morgan Lansdale. Lansdale provided the Zenobia and her sister ships to terrorist organization Il Veltro for use as platforms to launch attacks on the Mediterranean city, Terragrigia. After disposing of the Veltro terrorists with a remote-triggered biological outbreak, Lansdale repurposed the ship for usage as a laboratory complex. Using their laboratories, he promoted the research of the mutagenic virus nown as "The Abyss" and development of a new weaponized version of it, named the t-Abyss Virus, planning to cause a "manmade pandemic".^[2] After the cure to the virus was successfully developed, a second biohazard was triggered by Lansdale in order to eliminate loose ends in his plans, soon after sending FBC agents to collect the data.

Technical data

Tonnage: 148,000 gross tons
Displacement: 90,000 tons
Length: 335.8 m
Beam: 52.3 m
Height: 93.97 m
Propulsion: Electric diesel propulsion
Crew: 1094 officers and crew
Passengers: 2200

Layout

Quarter Deck
Crew Quarters
Solarium
Emergency Communication Room
Casino
Observation Deck
Grand Hall
Cafeteria
Promenade Deck
Upper Cabins
Lower Cabins
Bridge
Foredeck
Side Deck
Freight Lift
Cargo Hold
Bilge Block
Laboratory
Epidemic Prevention Block
Emergency Passageway

Further notes

The liner's design is based on the MS Queen Elizabeth and MS Queen Victoria
Inside the cabin areas there are pictures of the stairway to the sun and other environments from Resident Evil 5. These pictures are also in the Spencer Estate.
Paraguas (the name of the company who purchased the Queen Zenobia) is Spanish for umbrella.