RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, California

Today is dedicated to photographing the interior of the Queen May before I leave for the airport this afternoon.

The RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Queen Mary was built in Clyde Bank, Scotland and launched in 1936. She proudly displays Liverpool on her stern as her home port, for that was the headquarters of Cunard. At that time she was considered the grandest ocean liner ever built. She carried mail and passengers between Southampton and New York, later accompanied by her sister ship, the Queen Elizabeth, for 41 years. This reign was interrupted only when she became a troop carrier and hospital ship, operating under the alias “Grey Ghost” because of her new camouflage to avoid u-boats.

In 1943, she set the record for carrying the greatest number of people on a floating vessel. That record still stands. Of course, that was due to the number of troops aboard who were sleeping everywhere – triple cots in the swimming pool!! Winston Churchill signed the D0-Day agreement aboard the Mary.

She went back into passenger service in 1947, known as “the stateliest ship on the sea”. Anyone who was anybody sailed on her. The luxurious art deco wood paneling, etched glass, chrome railings were, and still are, breathtaking. The service was impeccable.

In the early 1960s, all passenger liners began to lose money. (By now the Queens had company on the North Atlantic run – the France and the United States.) Jet air travel was taking over and Cunard put the ship up for sale. The City of Long Beach won the bid at $3.45 million. The Mary sailed on her last great cruise on October 31, 1967(the year the QE2 was launched). Because she is too wide (so is the QM2) to sail through the Panama Canal, she sailed around Cape Horn to her final destination. She was transformed into a floating hotel and tourist attraction and opened to the public in 1971. She is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

For me, this ship has a special significance for several reasons. First of all, my parents hail from Liverpool and my many members of my maternal grandmother’s family worked, as did so many Liverpudlians, for Cunard and/or White Star. I grew up with stories of the Maurie (Mauritania) and the aunt and cousin who went down with the Lusitania. My maternal grandfather and his brother were both chief engineers in the Merchant Navy. Then, of course, we, as a family, sailed to the US on the Mary. My grandmother’s cousin, who was one of my favorite “aunties” had been the head stewardess on the Mary and was living in retirement in Southampton. She came on board and introduced us to everyone. Well, I was impressed. Since my Dad had been transferred to the US by ICI, the largest chemical company in the world, along with DuPont, at the time, the company provided first-class accommodations. I, a rising teenager, had my own stunning cabin. I could never forget it. There was only one drawback, you had to be14 to eat with your family in the dining room. I had to eat early (tea) with the kiddies. I recall being so impressed with the young American girls with their strapless evening gowns. I had my first baked Alaska on the voyage – I still don’t like it! The voyage was particularly exciting because we crossed in March during a record-setting (for Cunard) storm. The ship was not full, but during the storm, nary a single adult was out and about. No stabilizers in those days. The bow plunged right into the water and then rose up again, stopping you dead in your tracks as you tried to walk. Well we kids loved it. You know how I still love a good storm! The North Atlantic does not disappoint!

A tidbit of history. At that time, the ship had distinct classes (as depicted in the Titanic) and one could not move among the various areas on the ship. Some will remember the “stairway to nowhere on the QE2 which also had classes originally. And there was still steerage and still immigration. Every ship stopped at Ellis Island and everyone of every class was scrutinized. Ellis Island closed a few months before we arrived, so ours was not the “typical immigrant experience”. And that is another story – not for here!!!

And so I leave this wonderful piece of history and set off for the ends of the earth tonight. More from New Zealand in two days. Yes, I lose two days of my life getting there. I can never fathom the dateline thing!