The QM2 will take over the route from the QE2

Three fire tugs sprayed fountains of water into the air around the Queen Mary 2 as she headed towards the Solent for the five-and-a-half day journey.

About 2,600 passengers were on board the �550m vessel for the historic trip.

But one man, in his 30s, had to be taken off the vessel by lifeboat to have hospital treatment after suffering a broken arm and shoulder.

Troubled past

The Bembridge lifeboat was called to the eastern Solent, just off the Isle of Wight, less than an hour after the cruise liner had left Southampton.

The passenger is thought to have fallen down a flight of stairs.

The incident is not the first on the liner, which has had a troubled past.

Fifteen people were killed when a gangway collapsed while the ship was in dry dock at St Nazaire, France.

During sea trials in January, two women aged in their 60s had to be removed from the QM2 by the coastguard after breaking their legs.

The ship also arrived three-and-a-half hours late in Southampton on Monday after her first transatlantic crossing to Florida.

The liner is due to make the return journey from New York in tandem with her predecessor, the Queen Elizabeth 2, whose route she is taking over.