I am always on the lookout for educational opportunities for the kids, and hoped that the immense energy given off by this ship would inspire them to continue seeking out cultural diversions wherever they are. Queen Mary did falter.
A bit of history. Construction began in 1930 on "Hull 534" until being placed on hold as a result of the Great Depression. It was finally completed in 1934 after a loan from his Majesty's government on condition that Cunard and White Star Lines merge into one company. Hull 534 was renamed in honor of Her Royal Highness Queen Mary, mother of the famed King Geeeeeeeorge the stammer VI. During her service from 1936-1967, she travelled 3.8 million miles carryring countless celebrities, immigrants, and troops alike between Europe and North America.
The War Years were perhaps her most interesting. She was midway across the Atlantic enroute to New York when Hitler invaded Poland. Upon her arrival in New York, the U.S. And British governments seized her and she was converted to a troop transport ship. Throughout the war she ferryied over 800,000 armed servicemen from the United States to Europe recording a distance of 660,000 miles (to the moon and back). To this day, she still holds the world record for the most passengers and crew on an ocean liner: 16,683.
1942 proved a most intense one for the ocean liner and a turning point in attitudes towards the war. Germany had surrounded the British Isles with U-boats and Queen Mary was under orders to conduct a zig-zag course at full speed. Under no circumstances was she to stop. Passing north of the Irish Coast the British surface vessel HMS Curaçao was escorting Queen Mary but was unable to keep up with her speed and course. In the early afternoon on October 2nd, HMS Curaçao was caught in Queen Mary's path. At a whopping speed of 28 knots, Queen Mary struck Curaçao midship, splitting her in two. All but 99 of the 331 sailors aboard perished in the incident. Unable to stop for survivors, Queen Mary pressed on for port.
Queen Mary was docked in New York on V.E. Day so the government and Cunard decided she was no longer needed as a troop ship. For the next two years, she ferried a most precious cargo from Europe to America: war brides and their children. She returned to regular service between Southampton and New York in 1947. As the years went on, she and many other ocean liners were unable to compete with trans-oceanic air travel. Unable to turn a profit, in 1967 she was purchased by the City of Long Beach for 3 million dollars. Her final voyage saw her cruise down the east coast of South America, through the Magellan Straits, out to Hawaii, and finally to Long Beach. Because of her gigantic size - Titanic could fit inside her hull 1.5 times - she was too big to fit through the Panama Canal.
Touring the ship was an exciting experience with many interesting things to see. Starting in Piccadilly Circus - the main meeting/shopping point of the ship - we proceeded to pass the nursery with original period toys and games on display (sans iPads, video games, or TVs), and onwards to the bridge, and radio room. I mean actual RADIO room where passenger celebrities, musicians, and singers would broadcast shows to Queen Mary's own radio station. Further aft, we stepped inside the smoking room fitted with exquisite tiger face wood paneling, something I had never seen before. You can actually see the faces of five tigers in the wood.
Below decks, we found ourselves in the isolation ward for people who fell sick while at sea. The ship had a fully equipped operating room and even a morgue. Believe it or Not, Ripley, plenty of people died throughout Queen Mary's service years. Deceased passengers were removed from their rooms and placed in the morgue, and were turned over to authorities when the ship docked. Of course not all the deceased were passengers, nor crew members for that matter. Stowaways were quite common and while some were caught or 'found' there is no telling how many went by unnoticed. A plaque lists the names and crossings of known stowaways.
Our guide shared many interesting facts and stories about the ship. For starters, all First-Class rooms had telephones in them, and the ship even had ship-to-shore telephone communications back in the 1930s!!! And to think when I went First-Class on Queen Mary 2 75 years later, I couldn't even get a cell phone signal 20 miles off shore. My favorite story recalled the time Jesse Owens sprinted one lap round the promenade deck, a quarter of a mile, in less than 1 minute…..wearing tuxedo shoes.
During her final voyage to Long Beach, Queen Mary traversed seas that saw waves crashing on the main promenade deck 70 feet above the water line. I can't imagine how seasick people were, knowing at that point I would have just jumped overboard. A vast amount of windows on the promenade deck were broken during those storms, so when the ship arrived in Long Beach new ones were ordered. They measured one window and ordered two hundred new panes. When the panes arrived, they only fit in one window - the exact one that had been measured.
The Haunted Ship tour proved much more interesting. Queen Mary is designated one of the most haunted places in the world, with numerous documented paranormal activity and ghost sightings. We started in a forward, third-class cabin. On one journey a man was found dead under mysterious circumstances, and subsequent passengers reported frightening, and sometimes violent paranormal activities in the cabin until the room was eventually closed. Today it is the only cabin on the ship completely gutted and due to liability purposes permanently suspended from being rented out.
The most infamous cabin is the Winston Churchill Suite, where you guessed it - The Last Lion -frequently stayed. During a trans-Atlantic crossing in the early 60s, a maid walking down the hall smelled cigar smoke. She entered the cabin to find an older male passenger smoking a cigar. She informed him that there was no smoking in the cabins. He smiled at her as he extinguished his cigar, stood up, and exited the cabin through a wall. The maid quit that very night.
Way down below decks, in the bowels of the ship, is the salt water swimming pool, which was drained and refilled with fresh ocean water everyday - why not? As Max Bialystock would say, "When you got it, FLAUNT IT!" In its heyday it was one of the finest on the ocean, two stories with an open balcony surrounding it. Errol Flynn and Rock Hudson turned one particular ledge into a makeshift dive platform…I wonder, did they also share a cabin?
During the War Years, in particular 1945-1947, the pool was drained and used as extra space for laundry. Which brings us to the next ghost story. Apparently there is a mystery infant that wanders around the pool area, which is thought to have stayed with the ship from the war bride crossings. There are no records showing any infants who died in transit, however her ghost has been spotted numerous times. Speculations persist today.
From my time at VMI, this next story really strikes close to home, by that I am referring to the stupid $h*t cadets do. The "Unknown Jackass" boiler man had the intelligent idea of playing 'chicken' with a 2-ton water tight door during drills. He would wait until the last second to try and swoop underneath it. Like all jackasses, the desire for a personal best drives them to push the envelop evermore until reality punches them in the face…or in this case, completely crushes the entire right side of your body. He miraculously lived just long enough to get a shot of penicillin (apparently that helps crushed body parts) and make it to the infirmary, where he died 15 minutes after the accident, game, real Most Painful Elimination Game!
Saving the best for last, we visited the room that without a doubt houses the most spirits: The Observation Bar.
Soviet Submarine Scorpion
Docked alongside Queen Mary is the Soviet diesel submarine, Scorpion. Decommissioned in 1994, it was mainly used as a training submarine for smaller countries like Cuba. It was very small and cramped, but fun to walk/crawl around.
Having never been on a submarine before, I was astonished at how big torpedoes are - then again, I guess it would have to be to sink a ship. Everything from the captains quarters to officers lounge and crew sleeping quarters was cramped. I imagine there was more space on the Susan Constant! The beds were so few onboard that 3 crew members were assigned to each bunk, sleeping in shifts.
The Soviet Union's paranoia with disloyalty meant each vessel contained a surveillance room filled with spy equipment. It was loaded on before each voyage by the KGB, locked and sealed. No one was allowed inside, not even the Captain. When the sub returned to port, the KGB came and picked up the recordings for analysis.
Despite careful surveillance from big brother, tight quarters, and weeks on end under water, being a submariner had its perks. Submariners were the best paid and best fed in the Soviet Navy, and got the most time off.
All in all, the trip to Long Beach was totally worth while. I am blessed to know that I have experienced the best of old and new in transatlantic travel.
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| Queen of Troops |
1942 proved a most intense one for the ocean liner and a turning point in attitudes towards the war. Germany had surrounded the British Isles with U-boats and Queen Mary was under orders to conduct a zig-zag course at full speed. Under no circumstances was she to stop. Passing north of the Irish Coast the British surface vessel HMS Curaçao was escorting Queen Mary but was unable to keep up with her speed and course. In the early afternoon on October 2nd, HMS Curaçao was caught in Queen Mary's path. At a whopping speed of 28 knots, Queen Mary struck Curaçao midship, splitting her in two. All but 99 of the 331 sailors aboard perished in the incident. Unable to stop for survivors, Queen Mary pressed on for port.
Queen Mary was docked in New York on V.E. Day so the government and Cunard decided she was no longer needed as a troop ship. For the next two years, she ferried a most precious cargo from Europe to America: war brides and their children. She returned to regular service between Southampton and New York in 1947. As the years went on, she and many other ocean liners were unable to compete with trans-oceanic air travel. Unable to turn a profit, in 1967 she was purchased by the City of Long Beach for 3 million dollars. Her final voyage saw her cruise down the east coast of South America, through the Magellan Straits, out to Hawaii, and finally to Long Beach. Because of her gigantic size - Titanic could fit inside her hull 1.5 times - she was too big to fit through the Panama Canal.
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| The Bridge |
Below decks, we found ourselves in the isolation ward for people who fell sick while at sea. The ship had a fully equipped operating room and even a morgue. Believe it or Not, Ripley, plenty of people died throughout Queen Mary's service years. Deceased passengers were removed from their rooms and placed in the morgue, and were turned over to authorities when the ship docked. Of course not all the deceased were passengers, nor crew members for that matter. Stowaways were quite common and while some were caught or 'found' there is no telling how many went by unnoticed. A plaque lists the names and crossings of known stowaways.
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| Boat Deck |
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| Top windows were shattered; Overlook (top left) sits 90ft above waterline |
The Haunted Ship tour proved much more interesting. Queen Mary is designated one of the most haunted places in the world, with numerous documented paranormal activity and ghost sightings. We started in a forward, third-class cabin. On one journey a man was found dead under mysterious circumstances, and subsequent passengers reported frightening, and sometimes violent paranormal activities in the cabin until the room was eventually closed. Today it is the only cabin on the ship completely gutted and due to liability purposes permanently suspended from being rented out.
The most infamous cabin is the Winston Churchill Suite, where you guessed it - The Last Lion -frequently stayed. During a trans-Atlantic crossing in the early 60s, a maid walking down the hall smelled cigar smoke. She entered the cabin to find an older male passenger smoking a cigar. She informed him that there was no smoking in the cabins. He smiled at her as he extinguished his cigar, stood up, and exited the cabin through a wall. The maid quit that very night.
 |
During the War Years, in particular 1945-1947, the pool was drained and used as extra space for laundry. Which brings us to the next ghost story. Apparently there is a mystery infant that wanders around the pool area, which is thought to have stayed with the ship from the war bride crossings. There are no records showing any infants who died in transit, however her ghost has been spotted numerous times. Speculations persist today.
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| A ship this size needs a lot of lube. |
Saving the best for last, we visited the room that without a doubt houses the most spirits: The Observation Bar.
Soviet Submarine Scorpion
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| Torpedo room |
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| Behind Door # 3….. (gunshot) |
Despite careful surveillance from big brother, tight quarters, and weeks on end under water, being a submariner had its perks. Submariners were the best paid and best fed in the Soviet Navy, and got the most time off.
All in all, the trip to Long Beach was totally worth while. I am blessed to know that I have experienced the best of old and new in transatlantic travel.
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