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    RMS Queen Mary: Classic Liners
    RMS Queen Mary: Classic Liners
    RMS Queen Mary: Classic Liners
    Ebook274 pages1 hour

    RMS Queen Mary: Classic Liners

    By Andrew Britton

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    This colourful history tells the story of Cunard’s RMS Queen Mary, who along with her running mate Queen Elizabeth covered the transatlantic route from Southampton to New York via Cherbourg, the British answer to the German and French superliners. She was launched in May 1936 and immediately won the coveted Blue Riband, winning it again in 1938, before she served as a troopship in the war. She then carried on plying the Atlantic route with Queen Elizabeth until the jet age changed the world again and she was retired, now preserved as a floating museum and restaurant in Long Beach, California. Andrew Britton presents a wealth of unpublished photographic material and ephemera from his unparalleled collection to tell the story of this historic liner, including rare wartime views, shots of her ‘grey ghost’ paintwork, unique behind the scenes photographs, from the air shots, interior views and a wide selection of menus, log books, timetables, tickets and much more besides. Even including captain’s invitations, this superlative book offers a captivating trip through the history of this great liner.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe History Press
    Release dateSep 1, 2012
    ISBN9780750967136
    RMS Queen Mary: Classic Liners
    Author

    Andrew Britton

    Born in England, Andrew Britton moved with his family to the United States when he was seven, settling in Michigan, then North Carolina. After serving in the Army as a combat engineer, Andrew entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and received his degree just before his death in 2008, at the age of 27.

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    • 5/5
      This book is truely amazing! I learnt alot about this old lady which is now in the city of long beach. Great book!

    Book preview

    RMS Queen Mary - Andrew Britton

    Copyright

    INTRODUCTION

    Iam told that I was just ten days old when I was introduced to the Cunard RMS Queen Mary at the Ocean Dock in Southampton. Although I was born in Warwick, my father’s family and friends originated from Southampton and soon after leaving hospital I headed south to meet them, one member of the party weighing in at 81,237 tons! My grandfather was leader of the orchestra on the Queen Mary and my Uncle Norman was also a pianist in the same orchestra. Other family members and friends worked on the Cunard White Star Line ships and the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth became a major part of my life when my family frequently visited my father’s home city. Meeting the Cunard Queens, waving them off on their transatlantic voyages, and listening to the unforgettable deep tones of their whistles is in my blood.

    It therefore came as a great shock to me when in 1967 my beloved Queen Mary sailed away on her final voyage to Long Beach in California. I can only describe this sad occasion as like losing a very close family member whom I dearly loved. As she gently passed away down Southampton Water, I looked in silent disbelief with my family from the vantage point at Western Shore, Southampton. I can vividly recall my father with a tear in his eye and his voice, overcome with emotion, questioning, ‘How can they let her go?’ All around, thousands of mournful spectators gathered together reminiscing about memorable bygone days on this national icon as so many of them had worked aboard or had close connections with her.

    Now many decades on in the twenty-first century, I try to relate to my own sons, Jonathan, Mark and Matthew, what it was like to experience the world’s favourite liner, to see, hear, smell and touch the RMS Queen Mary. They listen in almost disbelief to favourite family Queen Mary tales of film star passengers, travelling royalty and our wartime leader Winston Churchill. This great liner was totally unique and had her own distinctive character with Art Deco, the warmth of the crew and sheer opulent luxury aboard. Of all the great ocean liners I have seen and been aboard, there has been nothing like her since she entered service in 1936. ‘The Mary’ is not only a legend in the annals of my family history, she is also regarded as the world’s favourite liner. How I wish she could have stayed at home in retirement at Southampton for future generations to enjoy.

    This is the view that awaited passengers on the Cunard RMS Queen Mary, who began all her voyages at the famous Pier 92 at New York Harbour. The letters of the name Queen Mary on the bows were 2½ft high and nearly 55ft in length. (Britton Collection)

    1

    POTTED HISTORY OF THE CUNARD RMS QUEEN MARY

    The Queen Mary is a floating kingdom who, with her Cunard sister, the Queen Elizabeth, could not be sunk by Hitler and undoubtedly shortened the War. This fine vessel is a symbol of the British nation and is the world’s favourite liner.

    So proclaimed Prime Minister The Right Hon. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill MP at the 8 a.m. press interview in the Verandah Grill shortly after docking at Pier 90, New York, in January 1953.

    The world’s favourite liner began life in December 1930 at John Brown & Company Shipbuilding and Engineering shipyard on the banks of the River Clyde in Scotland as ‘Hull No.534’. Due to the Great Depression work was halted in December 1931. With the aid of a government loan on condition that the Cunard and White Star Line’s merged work resumed in April 1934, the great liner was launched on 26 September 1934 at a total cost of £3.5 million. To facilitate the launch safely the banks of the River Clyde were widened, the depth of the river was dredged and eighteen special drag chains were attached to check the speed of launch.

    The name of the new liner had been kept a closely guarded secret and it was the intention of the Cunard White Star Line to name the new liner Victoria, in keeping with the tradition of naming ships ending with ‘ia’ or ‘ic’. It is said that when His Majesty King George V was approached at Balmoral by the company’s representatives to name the new ocean liner after Britain’s ‘greatest queen’, he beamed with a broad smile and replied, ‘Gentlemen, my wife will be delighted.’

    The Cunard White Star representatives therefore had no choice but to name the hull of 534 Queen Mary after Her Majesty Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. Traditionally only capital ships of the Royal Navy had been named after sovereigns of the realm and the story was officially denied by company officials. However, behind closed doors at the captain’s table on the 1936 maiden voyage of the Queen Mary, Sir Percy Bates, chairman of the Cunard White Star Line, confirmed that the story of the royal naming with the king at Balmoral was correct to Washington Post editor Felix Morley and attending members of the crew, including the Queen Mary’s Master Sir Edgar T. Britten.

    The target for the maiden voyage was to take the Blue Riband award for the fastest transatlantic crossing. High speeds were continuously achieved but speed was drastically and frustratingly reduced on the final day owing to heavy fog. The designers of the rival French Line Normandie criticised the Queen Mary for being, ‘trop traditionnel’. My father often repeated that it was true to say that the Queen Mary’s Art Deco did appear to be conservative compared to the plush ultra-modern French rival’s design, but he was quick to point out that the Queen Mary was far more popular in terms of passengers carried up to the start of the Second World War.

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