Queen Mary
From her maiden voyage on May 27, 1936 to her retirement in 1967 she was one
of the stateliest transatlantic ocean liners ever built.
Joel DeGrand © 2009
History of The Queen Mary, Long Beach…..Disneyland
The Queen Mary 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, California 90802 (310)
435-3511. The Maiden Voyage May 26, 1936: Her Majesty, Queen Mary of
England, celebrated her 69th birthday. Her entourage marked the occasion with
a quiet luncheon inside the confines of Buckingham Palace. Hours later, the
Queen received a somewhat belated birthday present of magnificent proportions
– stretching 1,018 feet in length and weighing more than 77,500 tons. May 27,
1936: just one day after the Queen’s birthday, her maritime namesake was ready
to begin an historic journey. Bookings for the Maiden Voyage from Southampton
to New York City were snapped up quickly. The passenger list read like a page
from “who’s who” as knights, ladies, dignitaries and artists were escorted to firstclass suites. The ship exuded elegance and the “floating city” housed all the
necessities easily found ashore. There were two chapels, a synagogue, a
hospital, nurseries and playrooms. A travel agency was also available for
passengers to make hotel reservations prior to docking. After just four days, 12
hours and 24 minutes, the Queen Mary’s maiden voyage was over, amid a grand
reception at New York City. The harbor was crowded with boats full of wellwishers and the curious. At the dock, she offloaded 1,849 passengers and 1,186
officers and crew. Two stowaways were returned to England. Origins of the
Ship: The Queen Mary was conceived in the late 1920’s as the first of a pair of
1000 foot long ships intended to provide regularly scheduled weekly service
between Southampton, England and New York City. Construction began on the
No. 534 at the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland in December 1930.
On December 11, 1931 all construction was halted as a result of the worldwide
economic crisis known as the Great Depression. Hull No. 534 languished until
April 3, 1934 when a government subsidy and the merger of the Cunard and
White Star Lines made it possible for work to continue. On September 26, 1934
Hull No. 534 was launched in the presence of His Majesty, King George V by his
consort Queen Mary. The Queen surprised and pleased the public by graciously
giving her own name to the ship. The heyday of the Queen Mary were the years
1936 to 1939, when she was the flagship of the Cunard White Star Line, soon
capturing the prized blue ribbon for a record breaking crossing. Although dubbed
the “stateliest ship afloat” by King George V at the time of her launching 1934, life
aboard the newest and fastest North Atlantic liner was anything but staid. A brief
look at the deck plans provides some insight – there were five bars on the
Promenade deck alone.
A Queen at War: The Queen Mary was in the mid-Atlantic when Hitler invaded
Poland on Friday, August 31, 1939. Loaded with passengers and refugees, she
ran a zig-zag course using blackout at night to elude submarines. She arrived
safely in New York on Monday, September 4. Converted for use as a troop
transport, the Queen Mary spent the next six years transporting over 800,000
troops. During the course of the war, she visited places as far away as Bombay,
India, Hong Kong; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Sydney, Australia, British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill credited the ship with shortening the war by as much
as a year. After the war she transported troops home and war brides and their
babies from Britain to the United States and Canada. 20 Years Working the
North Atlantic: After completing war duty, the Queen Mary was converted back
for passenger use. She began regular passenger service in July of 1947, this
time in conjunction with the Queen Elizabeth, the new flagship of the Cunard
Line. The Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth were the most successful and
profitable team I the history of the North Atlantic. Throughout the 1950’s the
ships ran full most of the time. Passengers booed months in advance to
guarantee passage aboard one of these two great ladies. By the late 1950’s
regularly scheduled passenger plane flights were available across the North
Atlantic. Almost overnight, massive transatlantic ocean liners became dinosaurs.
By the mid 1960’s, the Queen Mary was crossing the Atlantic carrying more crew
than passengers. The ship was no longer profitable in her former capacity, and
Cunard offered the Queen Mary for sale in 1967. A New Home Part: Long
Beach, California: The City of Long Beach, flush with tideland oil money,
purchased the Queen Mary as a tourist attraction, city icon, hotel convention
center and museum. The purchase may have rescued the ship from the
breakers. World-famous and loved by millions, the ship put the City of Long
Beach on the map instantly. In 1992, friends of the Queen Mary saved the ship
for Long Beach and the world. The RMS Foundation a non-profit foundation,
now manages the ship. The RMS Foundation intends to preserve the ship for
display in Long Beach in perpetuity and hopes to return as much originality to the
ship as possible.
Career
Home
Operator:
Port of Registry:
Ordered:
Builder:
Laid Down:
Launched:
Christened:
Maiden Voyage:
Out of Service:
Identification:
Status:
RMS Queen Mary
Cunard White Star Line
Liverpool
April 3, 1929
Clydebank, Scotland
December 1, 1930
September 26, 1934
September 26, 1934
May 27, 1936
December 1, 1967 (Retired)
Radio Call Sign GBTT
Now Hotel / Restaurant
Museum – Long Beach CA
General Characteristics
Tonnage:
Displacement:
Length:
Beam:
Height:
Draft:
Propulsion:
81,237 GT (Gross Tonnage)
81,961 Tons
1,019 ft.
118.5 ft.
181 ft.
39 ft.
24 Yarrow boilers 4 sets of
Parsons single-reduction geared
Steam turbines on 4 shafts, 160,000 shp
-Wikipedia