RMS Queen Mary - Wikipedia. RMS Queen Mary. RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Frances Elena Farmer (September 19, 1913 – August 1, 1970) was an American actress and television host. She is perhaps better known for sensationalized accounts of.History. Name: Queen Mary. Namesake: Mary of Teck. Owner: Port of registry: Liverpool (1.
Built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland, Queen Mary along with her sister ship, RMS Queen Elizabeth. The two ships were a British response to the superliners built by German and French companies in the late 1. Queen Mary was the flagship of the Cunard Line from May 1. October 1. 94. 6 when she was replaced in that role by Queen Elizabeth. Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage on 2. May 1. 93. 6 and captured the Blue Riband in August of that year; she lost the title to SS Normandie in 1. SS United States. With the outbreak of World War II, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the duration of the war. Following the war Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and along with Queen Elizabeth commenced the two- ship transatlantic passenger service for which the two ships were initially built. The two ships dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late 1. By the mid- 1. 96. Queen Mary was ageing and, though still among the most popular transatlantic liners, was operating at a loss. After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1. She left Southampton for the last time on 3. October 1. 96. 7 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she remains permanently moored. Much of the machinery, including one of the two engine rooms, three of the four propellers, and all of the boilers, were removed. The ship serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum, and a hotel. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has accepted the Queen Mary as part of the Historic Hotels of America. White Star Line began construction on their 8. Oceanic in 1. 92. Cunard planned a 7. FINDING THE COPYRIGHTS: Most lithographers copyrighted their prints under their own company names and that is where the copyright records can be found. Work was halted in December 1. Great Depression and Cunard applied to the British Government for a loan to complete 5. The loan was granted, with enough money to complete Queen Mary and to build a sister ship, Hull No. Queen Elizabeth. Both lines agreed and the merger was completed on 1. May 1. 93. 4. Work on Queen Mary resumed immediately and she was launched on 2. September 1. 93. 4. Completion ultimately took . Until her launch, the name she was to be given was kept a closely guarded secret. Legend has it that Cunard intended to name the ship Victoria, in keeping with company tradition of giving its ships names ending in . Queen Mary. Some support for the story was provided by Washington Post editor Felix Morley, who sailed as a guest of the Cunard Line on Queen Mary's 1. In his 1. 97. 9 autobiography, For the Record, Morley wrote that he was placed at table with Sir Percy Bates, chairman of the Cunard Line. Bates told him the story of the naming of the ship . On her way down the slipway, Queen Mary was slowed by eighteen drag chains, which checked the liner's progress into the Clyde, a portion of which had been widened to accommodate the launch. Britten, who had been the master designate for Cunard White Star whilst the ship was under construction at the John Brown shipyard. Queen Mary had a 8. GT). Except for her cruiser stern, she seemed to be an enlarged version of her Cunard predecessors from the pre. Her interior design, while mostly Art Deco, seemed restrained and conservative when compared to the ultramodern French liner. Queen Mary proved to be the more popular vessel than her larger rival, in terms of passengers carried. Normandie was refitted with a new set of propellers in 1. Queen Mary took back the Blue Riband in both directions with average speeds of 3. United States in 1. Interior. The largest room onboard was the cabin class (first class) main dining room (grand salon), spanning three stories in height and anchored by wide columns. The cabin- class swimming pool facility spanned over two decks in height. This was the first ocean liner to be equipped with her own Jewish prayer room . During each crossing, a motorised model of Queen Mary would indicate the vessel's progress en route. As an alternative to the main dining room, Queen Mary featured a separate cabin- class Verandah Grill on the Sun Deck at the upper aft of the ship. The Verandah Grill was an exclusive . Also on board was the Observation Bar, an Art Deco- styled lounge with wide ocean views. Woods from different regions of the British Empire were used in her public rooms and staterooms. Accommodation ranged from fully equipped, luxurious cabin (first) class staterooms to modest and cramped third- class cabins. Artists commissioned by Cunard in 1. Edward Wadsworth and A. The windows were once part of the enclosed Promenade Deck turnaround; the lounge was extended forward after 1. The international situation led to her being escorted by the battlecruiser HMS Hood. She arrived safely, and set out again for New York on 1 September. By the time she arrived, the Second World War had started and she was ordered to remain in port alongside Normandie until further notice. In March 1. 94. 0 Queen Mary and Normandie were joined in New York by Queen Mary's new sister ship Queen Elizabeth, fresh from her secret dash from Clydebank. The three largest liners in the world sat idle for some time until the Allied commanders decided that all three ships could be used as troopships. Normandie was destroyed by fire during her troopship conversion. Queen Mary left New York for Sydney, Australia, where she, along with several other liners, was converted into a troopship to carry Australian and New Zealand soldiers to the United Kingdom. Queen Mary's forward superstructure, shown here in Long Beach. When she came to Long Beach, the Sun Deck windows were enlarged and an anti- aircraft gun was placed on display astride the foremast to represent the World War II days of the great liner. In the WWII conversion, the ship's hull, superstructure and funnels were painted navy grey. As a result of her new colour, and in combination with her great speed, she became known as the . Inside, stateroom furniture and decoration were removed and replaced with triple- tiered wooden bunks, which were later replaced by standee bunks. Six miles of carpet, 2. The woodwork in the staterooms, the cabin- class dining room and other public areas was covered with leather. Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were the largest and fastest troopships involved in the war, often carrying as many as 1. Their high speed made it difficult for U boats to catch them. On 2 October 1. 94. Queen Mary accidentally sank one of her escort ships, slicing through the light cruiser HMS Curacoa off the Irish coast with a loss of 2. Queen Mary was carrying thousands of Americans of the 2. Infantry Division. Some sources claim that hours later, the convoy's lead escort. An account of this crossing can be found in Carter's book. Norval Carter, part of the 1. Station Hospital on board at the time, wrote in a letter that at one point Queen Mary . One moment the top deck was at its usual height and then, swoom! Down, over, and forward she would pitch. This was adapted as a 1. SS Poseidon is turned upside- down, and the trapped passengers try to escape. Naturally parts of the film were shot in the actual Queen Mary, conveniently docked in Long Beach. During the war Queen Mary carried British Prime Minister Winston Churchill across the Atlantic for meetings with fellow Allied forces officials on several occasions. He was listed on the passenger manifest as . From September 1. July 1. 94. 7, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service, adding air conditioning and upgrading her berth configuration to 7. They proved highly profitable for Cunard (as the company was renamed in 1. On 1 January 1. 94. Queen Mary ran aground off Cherbourg, France. She was refloated the next day. On some voyages, winters especially, Queen Mary sailed into harbour with more crew than passengers, though both she and Queen Elizabeth still averaged over 1. Due to a combination of age, lack of public interest, inefficiency in a new market, and the damaging after effects of the national seamen's strike, Cunard announced that both Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth would be retired from service and sold off. Many offers were submitted, and the bid of $3. On 2. 7 September she completed her 1,0. North Atlantic, having carried 2,1. Under the command of Captain John Treasure Jones, who had been her captain since 1. Southampton for the last time on 3. October with 1,0. After an epic voyage around Cape Horn, she arrived in Long Beach on 9 December. From 1. 98. 3 to 1. Howard Hughes' plane Spruce Goose, was located in a large dome nearby. The dome was later repurposed as a soundstage for film and television. It had been decided to clear almost every area of the ship below . This increased museum space to 4. It required removal of all the boiler rooms, the forward engine room, both turbo generator rooms, the ship stabilisers, and the water softening plant. The ship's empty fuel tanks were filled with local mud to keep the ship's centre of gravity and draft at the correct levels, as these critical factors had been affected by the removal of the various components and structure. Only the aft engine room and . Remaining space would be used for storage or office space. One problem that arose during the conversion was a dispute between land- based and maritime unions over conversion jobs. The United States Coast Guard had final say. Queen Mary was deemed a building, since most of her propellers had been removed and her machinery gutted. The ship was also repainted with its red water level paint at a slightly higher level than previously. During the conversion the funnels were removed, as this area was needed to lift out the scrap materials from the engine and boiler rooms. Workers found that the funnels were significantly degraded and they were replaced with replicas.
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