On September 26th 1934 the Liner Queen Mary launched at John Brown’s shipyard, Clydebank.
The construction of still the unnamed Cunard Queen Mary ship began in December 1930 (the ship’s keel was laid down on 31 January 1931) in the yard of “John Brown & Co” at Clydebank. The launch was scheduled for May 1932, but the work on the ship was suspended in December 1931 due to the world economic depression. A loan of 9.5 million pounds from the Government was granted to the Cunard Line with enough money to complete the Queen Mary ship and to build a second liner – the Queen Elizabeth.
As a direct result of this most advantageous deal, the Cunard Line merged with its main rival White Star on 10th May 1934 into Cunard White Star Ltd. The Queen Mary construction resumed in April 1934, the liner was completed by August and launched on 26th September at a total cost of 3.5 million pounds sterling.
The work was completed in March 1936. The Queen Mary ship sailed out for preliminary trials and after being painted in Southampton, the liner was handed over to Cunard White Star Line on 11th May 1936. RMS Queen Mary ship first sailing was on 14th May with its Transatlantic itinerary being Southampton-Cherbourg-New York. By May 1937 the liner had carried a total of almost 57,000 passengers.
The main speed-rival of the QM ship was SS Normandie – a liner built in France and operated by the French Compagnie Generale Transatlantique line. The Queen Mary took the Blue Riband (the prestigeous award given to a ship with the speed record for a transatlantic crossing) from the French liner SS Normandie in August 1938, with record speeds for both west- and eastbound crossings of the Atlantic Ocean – the average speeds was, respectively, 30,63 kn (35m25 mph, 56,7 km/h) and 30,14 kn (34,68 mph, 55,82 km/h).
In 1937, the Normandie liner was refitted with new propellers, enabling her to take the Blue Riband, but in 1938 the Queen Mary ship reclaim the honour for best speeds in both directions – westbound 30,99 kn (35,66 mph, 57.39 km/h) and eastbound 31,69 kn (36,47 mph, 58.69 km/h). This record was beaten by the SS United Sates liner in 1952.
The last commercial sailing of the ship Queen Mary was on 30 August 1939 departing from Southampton and then berthed at New York until the end of 1939. With the outbreak of the Second World War, 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 1950s. By the mid-1960s, 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 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 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.
RMS Queen Mary remains in Long Beach but recently it has been reported it is in need of significant repairs according to assessments and photos in 2019 and 2020. An estimated $289 million in repairs are needed after years of decline and the most recent operator going bankrupt.But even to “retire and recycle” the liner could cost up to $190m. One of the suggestions are to dismantle and sink the liner, although no long term plans have been finalised as yet.
The Queen Mary is due to open again to visitors next month, let’s hope someone can come up with a rescue plan to save her.
It has been mooted that it could return to the Clyde but the eyewatering amount of money it would take surely rules this out.
