RMS Queen Mary
Construction and naming
With Germany launching their Bremen and Europa into service, the British did not want to be left out in the ship building race. White Star Line began construction on their 60,000 ton Oceanic in 1928, while Cunard planned a 75,000 ton unnamed ship of their own.
Construction on the ship, then known only as “Hull Number 534″, began in December 1930 on the River Clyde by the John Brown & Company Shipbuilding and Engineering shipyard at Clydebank Scotland. Work was halted in December 1931 due to the Great Depression and Cunard applied to the British Government for a loan to complete 534. The loan was granted, with enough money to complete the Queen Mary and to build a running mate, Hull No. 552 which would become the Queen Elizabeth. One condition of the loan was that Cunard would merge with the White Star Line, which was Cunard’s chief British rival at the time and which had already been forced by the Depression to cancel construction on its Oceanic. Both lines agreed and the merger was completed in April 1934. Work on the Queen Mary resumed immediately and she was launched on 26 September 1934. Completion ultimately took 3 years and cost 3 million pounds sterling in total. Much of the ship’s interior was designed and constructed by the Bromsgrove Guild.
The ship was named after Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. 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 “ia”. However, when company representatives asked the King’s permission to name the ocean liner after Britain’s “greatest queen”, he said his wife, Queen Mary, would be delighted. And so, the legend goes, the delegation had of course no other choice but to report that No. 534 would be called RMS Queen Mary. This story was denied by company officials, and traditionally the names of sovereigns have only been used for capital ships of the Royal Navy. Some support for the story was provided by Washington Post editor Felix Morley, who sailed as a guest of the Cunard Line on the 1936 maiden voyage of the Queen Mary. In his 1979 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 condition you won’t print it during my lifetime.” The name Queen Mary could also have been decided upon as a compromise between Cunard and the White Star Line, with which Cunard had recently merged, both lines had tradition of using names either ending in “ic” with White Star and “ia” with Cunard.
History (1934-1939)
Queen Mary 1936
There was already a Clyde turbine steamer named Queen Mary, so Cunard White Star reached agreement with the owners that the existing steamer would be renamed TS Queen Mary II, and in 1934 the new liner was launched by Queen Mary as RMS Queen Mary. On her way down the slipway, the 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.
When she sailed on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England on 27 May 1936, she was commanded by Sir Edgar T. Britten, who had been the master designate for Cunard White Star whilst the ship was under construction at the John Brown shipyard. The Queen Mary had a gross tonnage (GT) of 80,774 tons; her rival, Normandie, which originally grossed 79,280 tonnes, had been modified the preceding winter to increase her size to 83,243 GT (an enclosed tourist lounge was built on the aft boat deck on the area where the game court was), and therefore kept the title of the largest ocean liner. The Queen Mary sailed at high speeds for most of her maiden voyage to New York until heavy fog forced a reduction of speed on the final day of the crossing.
The Observation Bar lounge. The windows were once part of the enclosed Promenade Deck turnaround; the lounge was extended forward after 1967.
The Queen Mary’s design was criticized for being too traditional, especially when the Normandie’s hull was revolutionary with a clipper shaped, streamlined bow. Except for her cruiser stern, she seemed to be simply an enlarged version of her Cunard predecessors from the pre World War I era. Her interior design, while mostly Art Deco, still seemed restrained and conservative when compared to the ultramodern French liner. However, the Queen Mary proved to be the more popular vessel than its larger rival, in terms of passengers carried.
In August 1936, Queen Mary captured the Blue Riband from Normandie, with average speeds of 30.14 knots (55.82 km/h) westbound and 30.63 knots eastbound. Normandie was refitted with a new set of propellors in 1937 and reclaimed the honour, but in 1938 Queen Mary took back the Blue Riband in both directions with average speeds of 30.99 knots (57.39 km/h) westbound and 31.69 knots eastbound, records which stood until lost to the SS United States in 1952.
Interior
The First Class dining room map on the Queen Mary, which tracked the ship’s progress across the Atlantic Ocean.
Onboard amenities on the Queen Mary varied according to class, with First Class passengers accorded the most space and luxury. Among facilities available on board the Queen Mary, the liner featured an indoor swimming pool, salon, ship’s library, children’s nursery, outdoor paddle tennis court, and ship’s kennel. The largest room was the first class dining room (grand salon), which spanned three stories in height and was anchored by wide columns. The indoor swimming pool facility also spanned over two decks in height.
The first class dining room featured a large map of the transatlantic crossing, with twin tracks symbolizing the winter/spring route (further south to avoid icebergs) and the summer/autumn route. During each crossing, a motorized model of the Queen Mary would indicate the vessel’s progress en route.
The First Class dining room on the Queen Mary, also known as the Grand Salon.
As an alternative to the first class dining room, the Queen Mary featured a separate Verandah Grill on the Sun Deck at the upper aft of the ship. The Verandah Grill was an exclusive la carte restaurant with a capacity of approximately eighty passengers, and was converted to the Starlight Club at night. Irish writer and broadcaster, Brian Cleeve spent several months as a commis waiter on the ship in 1938, after he ran away from school. 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. Accommodations ranged from fully equipped, luxurious first class staterooms to modest and cramped third class cabins. Artists commissioned by Cunard in 1933 for works of art in the interior include Edward Wadsworth and A. Duncan Carse.
World War II
Arriving in New York Harbor, 20 June 1945, with thousands of U.S. troops.
In late August 1939, the Queen Mary was on a return run from New York to Southampton. 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 until further notice alongside the Normandie. In 1940 the Queen Mary and the Normandie were joined in New York by Queen Mary’s new running mate 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 (unfortunately, the Normandie would be destroyed by fire during her troopship conversion). The Queen Mary left New York for Sydney, where she, along with several other liners, was converted into a troopship to carry Australian and New Zealand soldiers to the United Kingdom. In the conversion, her hull, superstructure and funnels were painted navy grey. Inside, stateroom furniture and decoration were removed and replaced with triple-tiered wooden bunks (which would later be replaced by standee bunks). Six miles of carpet, 220 cases of china, crystal and silver service, tapestries and paintings were removed and stored in warehouses for the duration of the war. The woodwork in the staterooms, the first-class dining room and other public areas were covered with leather. Eventually joined in troop service by the Queen Elizabeth, the two ships were the largest and fastest troopships involved in the war, often carrying as many as 15,000 men in a single voyage, and often travelling out of convoy and without escort. Their high speed meant that it was difficult for U boats to catch them.
On 2 October 1942, Queen Mary accidentally sank one of her escorts, slicing through the light cruiser HMS Curacoa off the Irish coast, with the loss of 338 lives. Due to the constant danger of being attacked by U-Boats, on board the Queen Mary Captain C. Gordon Illingworth was under strict orders not to stop for any reason, the Royal Navy destroyers accompanying the Queen were ordered to stay on course and not rescue any survivors.
The forward section of the Queen Mary was fitted with new big windows and anti-aircraft guns seen here in Long Beach.
In December 1942, the Queen Mary was carrying 16,082 American troops from New York to Great Britain, a standing record for the most passengers ever transported on one vessel. While 700 miles from Scotland during a gale, she was suddenly hit broadside by a rogue wave that may have reached a height of 28 metres (92 ft). An account of this crossing can be found in Walter Ford Carter’s book, No Greater Sacrifice, No Greater Love. Carter’s father, Dr. Norval Carter, part of the 110th Station Hospital on board at the time, wrote that at one point the Queen Mary “damned near capsized… One moment the top deck was at its usual height and then, swoom! Down, over, and forward she would pitch.” It was calculated later that the ship tilted 52 degrees, and would have capsized had she rolled another 3 degrees. The incident inspired Paul Gallico to write his story, The Poseidon Adventure, which was later made into a film by the same name, using the Queen Mary as a stand-in for the SS Poseidon.
During the war, the Queen Mary carried British Prime Minister Winston Churchill across the Atlantic for meetings with fellow Allied forces officials on several occasions, he would be listed on the passenger manifest as “Colonel Warden” and insisted that the lifeboat assigned to him be fitted with a .303 machine gun so that he could “resist capture at all costs”.
After World War II
The Queen Mary in Southampton, June 1956
From September 1946 to July 1947, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service, adding air conditioning and upgrading her berth configuration to 711 first class, 707 cabin class and 577 tourist class passengers. Following refit, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth dominated the transatlantic passenger trade as Cunard White Star’s two ship weekly express service through the latter half of the 1940s and well into the 1950s. They proved highly profitable for Cunard. But in 1958, the first transatlantic flight by a jet began a completely new era of competition for the Cunard Queens. On some voyages, winters especially, Queen Mary sailed into harbour with more crew than passengers. (But she and her sister Queen Elizabeth still averaged over 1000 passengers per crossing into the middle 1960s.) By 1965, the entire Cunard fleet was leaving a trail of red ink. Hoping to continue financing their still under construction Queen Elizabeth 2, Cunard mortgaged the majority of the fleet. Finally, under 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 the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth would be retired from service (the Elizabeth would leave service one year later) and were to be sold off. Many offers were submitted, but it was Long Beach, California who beat the Japanese scrap merchants. And so, Queen Mary was retired from service in 1967, while her running mate Queen Elizabeth was withdrawn in 1968. RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 took over the transatlantic route in 1969.
The Queen Mary in Long Beach
The Queen Mary from the Northern side of Long Beach harbor
After her retirement in 1967, she steamed to Long Beach, California, where she is permanently moored as a tourist attraction. From 1983 to 1993, the Queen Mary was accompanied by Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose, which was located in a large dome nearby (the dome is now used by Carnival Cruise Lines as a ship terminal, and formerly as a soundstage).
Since drilling had started for oil in Long Beach Harbor, some of the revenue had been set aside in the “Tidelands Oil Fund.” Some of this money was allocated in 1958 for the future purchase of a maritime museum for Long Beach.
Conversion
When the Queen Mary was bought by Long Beach, they decided that the ship would be an iconic host and not for preserving her as an ocean liner. It had been decided to clear almost every area of the ship below C deck (called R deck after 1950 to lessen passenger confusion all the restaurants were on “R” deck) to make way for the museum. This would increase museum space to 400,000 square feet. 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 now empty fuel tanks were then filled with local mud which would keep the ship’s centre of gravity and draft at the correct levels, as these critical factors had been affected by the removal of all various components and structure. Only the aft engine room and “shaft alley”, at the stern of the ship, would be spared from the cutter’s torch. 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; the 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 a slightly higher than its old one. During the conversion the funnels were removed as it was the only practical way to lift out the the scrap materials from the engine and boiler rooms, subsiquently it was found that the funnels were held together with over thirty coats of paint and that they had to be replaced with new replica items.
A passageway in First Class accommodation, now part of the onboard hotel
With all of the lower decks nearly gutted from R deck and down, Diner’s Club, the initial lessee of the ship, was to convert the remainder of the vessel into a hotel. Diner’s Club Queen Mary dissolved and vacated the ship in 1970 after their parent company, Diner’s Club International was sold, and a change in corporate direction was mandated amidst the conversion process. Specialty Restaurants, a Los Angeles based company that focused on theme based restaurants, would take over as master lessee the following year.
During this conversion, the plan was to convert most of her first and second class cabins on A and B decks only into hotel rooms, and convert the main lounges and dining rooms into banquet spaces. On Promenade Deck, the starboard promenade deck would be enclosed to feature an upscale restaurant and cafe called Lord Nelson’s and Lady Hamilton’s themed like early 19th century sailing ships. The famed and elegant Observation Bar was redecorated as a western themed bar.
The Queen Mary’s bridge, now open to visitors
The smaller first class public rooms such as the Drawing Room, Library, Lecture Room and the Music studio would be stripped of most of their fittings and converted over to retail space, heavily expanding the retail presence on the ship. Two more shopping malls were built on the Sun Deck in separate spaces previously used for first class cabins and engineer’s quarters.
A post war feature of the ship, the first class cinema, was removed for kitchen space for the new Promenade deck dining venues. The first class lounge and smoking room were reconfigured and converted into banquet space, while the second class smoking room would be subdivided into a wedding chapel and office space. On Sun Deck, the elegant Verandah Grill would be gutted and converted into a fast food eatery, while a new upscale dining venue would be created directly above it on Sports Deck in space once used for crew quarters. The second class lounges would be expanded to the sides of the ship and used for banqueting. On R deck, the first class dining room was reconfigured and subdivided into two banquet venues, the Royal Salon and the Windsor Room. The second class dining room would be subdivided into kitchen storage and a crew mess hall, while the third class dining room would initially be used as storage and crew space. Also on R deck, the first class Turkish bath complex, the 1930s equivalent to a spa, would be removed. The second class pool would be removed and its space initially used for office space, while the first class swimming pool would be used for hotel guests. Combined with modern safety codes, and the structural soundness of the area directly below, the swimming pool is no longer in use.
No crew cabins remain intact aboard the ship today. She now serves as a hotel, museum, tourist attraction, and for rent site for events, but her financial results have been mixed.
The Queen Mary as a tourist attraction
On 8 May 1971, the Queen Mary opened its doors to tourists. Initially, only portions of the ship were open to the public as Specialty Restaurants had yet to open its dining venues or the hotel. As a result, the ship was only open on weekends. In December of that year, Jacques Cousteau’s Museum of the Sea opened, with only a quarter of the planned exhibits built. Within the decade, Cousteau’s museum closed due to low ticket sales and the deaths of many of the fish that were housed in the museum. In November of the following year, the hotel opened its initial 150 guest rooms. Hyatt operated the hotel from 1974 to 1980, when the Jack Wrather Corporation signed a 66-year lease with the city of Long Beach to operate the entire property. Wrather was taken over by the Walt Disney Company in 1988, Wrather owned the Disneyland Hotel, which Disney had been trying to buy for 30 years; the Queen Mary was thus an afterthought and was never marketed as a Disney property.
First Class accommodations on the Queen Mary, converted into a present-day hotel room with modern curtains, bedding and amenities surrounded by original wood paneling, portholes and light fixtures.
Through the late eighties and early nineties, the Queen Mary continued to struggle financially. During the Disney years, Disney planned to develop a theme park on the remaining land. This theme park eventually opened a decade later in Japan as DisneySea, with a recreated oceanliner resembling the Queen Mary as its centerpiece. Hotel Queen Mary closed in 1992 when Disney gave up the lease on the ship to focus on what would become Disney’s California Adventure. The tourist attraction remained open for another two months, but by the end of 1992, the Queen Mary completely closed its doors to tourists and visitors.
In February 1993, under the direction of President and C.E.O. Joseph F. Prevratil, RMS Foundation, Inc began a five-year lease with the city of Long Beach to act as the operators of the property. Later that month, the tourist attraction reopened completely, while the hotel reopened in March. In 1995, RMS’s lease was extended to twenty years while the extent of the lease was reduced to simply operation of the ship itself. A new company, Queen’s Seaport Development, Inc. (QSDI) came into existence in 1995 controlling the real estate adjacent to the vessel. In 1998, the City of Long Beach extended the QSDI lease to 66 years. In 2005, QSDI sought Chapter 11 protection due to a rent credit dispute with the City. In 2006, the bankruptcy court requested bids from parties interesting in taking over the lease from QSDI. The minimum required opening bid was $41M. The operation of the ship, by RMS, remained independent of the bankruptcy. In Summer 2007, the Queen Mary’s lease was sold to a group named “Save the Queen” managed by Hostmark Hospitality Group, who planned to develop the land adjacent to the Queen Mary, and upgrade, renovate, and restore the Queen Mary. During the time of their management, staterooms were updated with Ipod docking stations and flatscreen TV’s, the ships three funnels were repainted their original Cunard Red color, as well as the ships waterline area, The portside Promenade Deck’s planking was restored and refinished, as well as work on other parts of the ship, many lifeboats were repaired and patched, and the ships kitchens were renovated with new equipment.
In late September 2009, the Queen Mary’s management was taken over by Delaware North Companies, who plan to continue restoration, and renovation of the ship and its property, and work to revitalize and enhance one of the grandest ocean liners of all time.
In 2004, the Queen Mary and Stargazer Productions added Tibbies Great American Cabaret to the space previously occupied by the ship’s bank and wireless telegraph room. Stargazer Productions and the Queen Mary transformed the space into a working dinner theater complete with stage, lights, sound, and scullery.
Meeting of the Queens
On 23 February 2006, the RMS Queen Mary 2 saluted her predecessor as it made its port of call in Los Angeles Harbor, while on a cruise to Mexico. The event was covered heavily by local and international media.
Ship’s horn
The salute itself was carried out with the Queen Mary blowing her one working air horn in response to the Queen Mary 2 blowing her combination of two brand new horns pointing forward and an original 1932 Queen Mary horn (donated by the City of Long Beach) aimed aft. The Queen Mary originally had three whistles tuned to 55 Hz, a frequency chosen because it was low enough that the extremely loud sound of it would not be painful to human ears. Modern IMO regulations specify ships’ horn frequencies to be in the range 70200 Hz for vessels that are over 200 metres (660 ft) in length. Traditionally, the lower the frequency, the larger the ship. The Queen Mary 2, being 345 metres (1,130 ft) long, was given the lowest possible frequency (70 Hz) for her regulation whistles, in addition to the refurbished 55 Hz whistle on permanent loan. 55 Hz is the lower bass “A” note found an octave up from the lowest note of a piano keyboard. The air-driven Tyfon whistle can be heard at least ten miles away.
W6RO
Queen Mary’s wireless radio room
The Queen Mary’s original, professionally manned wireless radio room was destroyed once the ship arrived in Long Beach. In its place an amateur radio room was created one deck above the original radio reception room with some of the discarded original radio equipment used for display purposes only. The amateur radio station with the call sign W6RO (“Whiskey Six Romeo Oscar”) relies on volunteers from a local amateur radio club. They are present most of the time the ship is open to the public, and the radios can also be used by other licensed amateur radio operators.
In honor of his over forty years of dedication to W6RO and the Queen Mary, in November 2007 the Queen Mary Wireless Room was renamed The Nate Brightman Radio Room. This was announced on 28 October 2007 at Mr. Brightman’s 90th birthday party by Joseph Prevratil, President and CEO of the Queen Mary.
Paranormal
The Queen Mary at night, with spotlight on the Soviet submarine B-427
Ghosts were reported on board only after permanently docked in California. Many areas are rumored to be haunted. Reports of hearing little children crying in the nursery room, actually used as the third-class playroom, and a mysterious splash noise in the drained first-class swimming pool are cited. In 1966, 18-year-old engineer John Pedder was crushed by a watertight door in the engine room during a fire drill, and his ghost is said to haunt the ship. There is also said to be the spirit of a young girl named Jackie who was murdered in the pool room haunts the first class pool onboard the ship. It is also said that men screaming and the sound of metal crushing against metal can be heard belowdecks at the extreme front end of the bow. Those who have heard this believe it to be the screams of the sailors aboard the HMS Curacoa at the moment the destroyer was split in half by the liner.
The Queen Mary operates daily paranormal themed tours, some of which have theatrics applied for dramatic effect. The ship maintains a haunted maze and expands to multiple mazes during the Halloween season.
The Queen Mary has been the subject of numerous professional paranormal investigations by printed publications like Beyond Investigation Magazine, nationally televised shows like Ghost Hunters, The Othersiders, and radio’s Coast to Coast AM. The UK paranormal television program, Most Haunted, investigated the ship in a special two-part episode.
On screen
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (February 2010)
In its permanent berth in Long Beach, the Queen Mary has been used as a filming location for numerous films, television episodes, and commercials. Some examples are:
Assault on a Queen (1966)
The Poseidon Adventure (1972). Some of the Poseidon ship scenes were filmed on board the Queen Mary. A 26-foot long miniature of the ship was used in special effects shots.
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
The Gumball Rally (1976). The pier in Long Beach where the ship is located was the finish line for the cross-country race.
S.O.S. Titanic (1979), in which the Queen Mary doubled for her ill-fated predecessor.
Goliath Awaits (1981), About an ocean liner named the Goliath being sunk during World War II and the survivors forming an underwater society.
Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), The murder at the beginning of the film was filmed in the First Class swimming pool area of the Queen Mary.
Toyota’s advertisement for Celica All-trac Turbo in the 1991 Long Beach Grand Prix featured the Queen Mary, with the tagline, “On 14 April, we’re going streaking in front of the Queen.”
Murder, She Wrote (1989), Episode entitled “The Grand Old Lady” takes place on the Queen Mary in 1947.
Bold and the Beautiful (1989)
Tidal Wave: No Escape (1997). Harve Presnell destroys the Queen Mary with an artificial tsunami.
“Triangle,” an episode of The X-Files, featured the Queen Mary as the fictional Queen Anne.
Pearl Harbor (2001).
Escape from L.A. (1996).
Being John Malkovich (1999), parts of the movie were shot on board.
Fiona Apple’s “O’ Sailor” video.
Most Haunted (2005).
The Amazing Race 7 (2005). The starting line for the 7th season.
Airwolf episode “Desperate Monday”.
“Development Arrested”, series finale of Arrested Development (2006).
The ship was used as the home for the finalists of reality TV show Last Comic Standing in the fourth season (2006).
National Lampoon’s Dorm Daze 2 (2006).
The 2007 Cold Case episode World’s End.
The Queen Mary was one location the TAPS crew investigated for hauntings during the second season of the TV series Ghost Hunters.
The Queen Mary was the site of Vincent Chase’s Birthday in the episode “Less Than 30″, of the 3rd Season of Entourage (TV Series).
The Queen Mary is featured on a 2007 Jonas Brothers music video, where they perform their single SOS on the ocean liner.
Portrayed the German liner SS Bremen in the 1983 mini-series The Winds of War based on the 1971 novel by Herman Wouk.
An episode of Quantum Leap took place on the Queen Mary.
The 1997 romantic comedy Out to Sea (with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau) used the Queen Mary as filming location.
The Queen Mary was the set of “The Search for the Next Elvira”, where many hopeful young women contended to be the next “Mistress of the Dark”.
Miss America: Countdown to the Crown (2009), a reality competition show; part of the precompetition for the Miss America 2009 pagent.
An episode of New York Goes to Work used the Queen Mary as a filming location (2009).
The Othersiders (2009), The team investigated here for paranormal activity.
Legally Blondes (2008).
In popular culture
This “In popular culture” section may contain minor or trivial references. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject’s impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances, and remove trivia references. (February 2010)
The album title for Apologies to the Queen Mary by Wolf Parade references an incident on the ship in which the band was involved.
Most of the series finale of Arrested Development takes place on the ship.
The music video of the Jonas Brothers song SOS was filmed aboard the Queen Mary.
A season one episode of Moonlight features the Queen Mary as the location of a murder of a stalked Hollywood star.
The Queen Mary is referenced in episode 7 of the ABC Family series The Middleman, “The Cursed Tuba Contingency”. One of the episode’s villains has a ship which he boasts is “three feet longer than the Queen Mary, and eighty-six feet longer than the Titanic.” In reality, the Queen Mary (at 965 feet perpendiculars) really is eighty-three feet longer than the Titanic (at 882 feet).
In the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, the Queen Mary plays a major part as the start of Edward’s Journey. Edward, a china rabbit, is on the Queen Mary with his owner, a little girl named Abileine. Two boys accidentily throw Edward overboard, and the rabbit starts out on his journey. The Queen Mary is referenced in the text and in a painting in the book.
In Tim Powers’s book Expiration Date, the Queen Mary plays a significant part, related to the supernatural legends above.
See also
“It’s Men that Count”; late 1930s promotional poster for the Cunard Line
RMS Mauretania (1938)
RMS Queen Elizabeth
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
MS Queen Elizabeth
RMS Queen Mary 2
MS Queen Victoria
References
Notes
^ Royal Lady – The Queen Mary Reigns in Long Beach
^ The Bromsgrove Guild – an illustrated history, The Bromsgrove Society
^ a b c Maxtone-Graham, John. The Only Way to Cross. New York: Collier Books, 1972, p. 288
^ “Chains brake liner at launching”. Popular Science. 1934-12. http://books.google.com/books?id=uigDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
^ Atlantic Liners: RMS Queen Mary
^ ocean-liners.com SS Normandie
^ Bruce, Jim, Faithful Servant: A Memoir of Brian Cleeve Lulu, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84753-064-6, (pp.50-55)
^ Modern art takes to the waves
^ The Historic Queen Mary – RMS Foundation, Inc.
^ Levi, Ran. “The Wave That Changed Science”. The Future of Things. http://thefutureofthings.com/column/1005/the-wave-that-changed-science.html. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
^ Lavery, Brian. Churchill Goes to War: Winston’s Wartime Journeys. Naval Institute Press, 2007, p. 213.
^ OceanLiners.com. RMS Queen Mary
^ Harvey, Clive (2008). R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth-The Ultimate Ship. Carmania Press. ISBN 9780954366681.
^ The Queen Mary. The Queen Mary’s History
^ Long Beach Report. A REPORT ON THE QUEENSWAY BAY DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND THE LONG BEACH TIDE AND SUBMERGED LANDS. State Lands Commission, April 2001
^ Tibbies Cabaret. History. Retrieved on August 8, 2009.
^ USATODAY.com – Queen Mary 2 to meet original Queen Mary in Long Beach harbor
^ ‘Queen Mary’s horn (MP3) – PortCities Southampton
^ The Funnels and Whistles
^ Welcome to kockum sonics: Tyfon IMO regulations
^ “The voice of the Queen Mary can be heard ten miles away” (JPG image)
^ W6RO – Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach
^ Human Touch Draws Ham Radio Buffs, Gazettes Newspaper
^ The wireless installation on RMS Queen Mary
^ Chisholm, Charlyn Keating. “Haunted Hotel – Queen Mary Hotel in Long Beach, California”. About.com. http://hotels.about.com/od/hauntedhotelsatoz/p/hau_queenmary.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
^ Winer, Richard, Ghost Ships
^ Queen Mary – Attractions at Night QueenMary.com
^ Queen Mary’s Shipwreck – Annual Halloween fest
^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VUZK-D5czs&feature=related
Bibliography
The Cunard White Star Quadruple-screw North Atlantic Liner, Queen Mary. – Bonanza Books, 289 p., 1979. – ISBN 0517279290. Largely a reprint of a special edition of “The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-builder” from 1936.
Cunard Line, Ltd., John Brown and Company archives.
Clydebank Central Library Clydebank, Scotland.
Roberts, Andrew, Masters and Commanders: How four titans won the war in the West, 1941-1945, Harper Collins e-Books, London
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: RMS Queen Mary
Website of current commercial operator (Event listings as well as Facts & History section)
Queen Mary Alternative Visions (Describes the construction and conversion of the Queen Mary and advocates its partial restoration)
Time Magazine: The Queen; 11 August 1947
The Great Ocean Liners: RMS Queen Mary
Clydebank Restoration Trust
RMS Queen Mary at Chris’ Cunard Page (The Last Great Atlantic Fleet)
Coordinates: 334511 1181123 / 33.7531N 118.1898W / 33.7531; -118.1898
Records
Preceded by
Normandie
Holder of the Blue Riband (Westbound)
1936 1937
Succeeded by
Normandie
Atlantic Eastbound Record
1936 1937
Holder of the Blue Riband (Westbound)
1938 1952
Succeeded by
United States
Atlantic Eastbound Record
1938 1952
v d e
Cunard ships
Current Fleet
RMS Queen Mary 2 (2004) MS Queen Victoria (2007)
Planned
MS Queen Elizabeth (2010)
Former Ships
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Categories: London Fog Leather Coats Tags: Mary, Queen
Whispering Moon
Whispering Moon
“The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.”
Black Elk
Hakeem and Rachael stood before the open window, inhaling and savoring the night cool mist as if it was waiting for them. The intoxicating breeze swap across their faces as Hakeem held Rachael hand.
“Run with me, he whispered.”
“Is it safe?”
He closed his eyes and tilted his head back slightly, his nostrils flared. He inhaled the scent of the trees in the woods, smelling the ocean waters, and the rich, earthy smell. The temptation of the moon alone was calling him to go. Rain had been falling lightly in the form of mist. Judging by the heaviness of the air, there would likely be more rain throughout the nigh and by morning,
“Run with me, let go.”
“Where?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes”
Then run with me”
Hakeem was from London; his family holds a long legacy that only few knew about.
For Centuries, The name Francium struck fear in the heart of the town’s folks. It had been roamers that the families were warriors; wherever they went, they left trails of blood and bodies. The legends have it that for thousands of years, Francium a great warrior had made a deal with the devil to hunts down and conquer his enemies and in return he promise the devil his soul. When Francium last a battle he gotten angry at the devil, it was said that there was a duel between the two of them, the Francium family was left with a curse. The family for many, many years had lived in their family mansion on top of a hill looking down on the Ocean, away from the town folks. Only a few people were acquiescence to come and go from their mansion, the workers and invited guesses. From time to time one of the Francium man would go into town to check out a few bars. The night was quiet a bit too quiet. Hakeem the only child his father had ,throw on his long black leather coat, his black leather hat and went into town, stop at one of the local bars, done what he normally do, finds a seat in a near corner.
It was a Friday night, and Friday nights were usually party nights—drinking, laughing, dancing and sharing of human body fluids.
However, tonight something were strange, a strange feeling was hanging in the air heavy, even though the music that was playing, there was laughter, dancing and everything else that follows, Hakeem just could not put his finger what he was feeling and why.
“What are you drinking Honey?”
“The Usual”
“Ok, one tall beer and One glass of water coming right up.”
“Thank you.”
Hakeem said as he scan the bar, looking from one corner to the other.
“Here’s your beer and alone with one water.”
Dominic, a tall dark man, with a long black bony tail and was wearing almost the same long leather coat and leather hat as Hakeem, one of the bars frequent drinkers, walked to the table and plunked down a bottle of beer.
I just thought I‘d come and have a cheat with you. I notice that you come in here a lot, alone,”
Dominic sipped his beer plunking it back to the table.
“What do you want?”
“Just wanted to be friendly, being that you don’t seems every talk to any one, perhaps you need a friend,”
Hakeem look at the man for a few seconds and asks,
“My friend? I don’t have friends and I don’t want you as a friend so will you please leave my table?”
“Will you please leave my table? Listen I know about you and your family and like I was saying, you need a friend, I have been coming here from awhile and I hear things.”
Things like what?”
“Things like those group of fellows over there at the bar is planning to meet you out side when you leave. They say that they don’t like you or your kind”
“Well sir”
“I’m sorry, I’m Dominic and you are Hakeem, the son of Francium.”
“How do you know about me?”
“I know a lot about you, our families go way back.”
“Dominic, Like I said I don’t need friends. Just because you think you know me I still don’t need friends, I can take care of myself.”
Dominic look at Hakeem, turned his bottle up taken the last few swallows from it, stood of and said.
“OK brother, like the other, you don’t need friends, I get it. There aren’t many blacks like us here, we will meet again.”
Dominic smelled at Hakeem, tiled his hat and walks away.
A chorus of a good song from the live bang started playing; “It’s Time To Go Now” meaning it was closing time, rose up from the others. Wally and Raymond two brothers glanced over at Hakeem. Feeling them looking at him, Hakeem just kept drinking and let them make up their own minds on if he would be afraid of them or not.
“Bar close people, put your glasses and bottles down and say good night.” The bar owner yelled.
Outside of the bar there waiting for Hakeem was a woman, Abigail, she too frequent the bar on the weekends. When Hakeem walk outside of the bar she walks up to him,
“Hello Stranger, I’m Abigail, How about walking a girl home? It is late and A few men in the bar have been hitting on me. ”
“Hitting on you?” Hakeem was not sure just what Abigail meant by hitting on her.
“Yeah like Making passes, trying to pick me up, spend time with me.”
“Spend time with you? And you don’t want to, so you feel you need some one to walk you home, now is that for protection or is you trying to pick me up?”
At that moment Abigail got mad,
“You know I was trying to be friendly but I see I was wasting my time>”
“Friendly? What is with people trying to be friendly tonight? I have been coming to this bar and others for some time now, no one wanted to be friendly, now to night everyone wants to be friendly.”
Before Hakeem could say another word to her, Abigail smile at him, turned and walks away leaving him just standing. Hakeem position his hat, pulled up his collar to his coat and headed towards his home feeling that strange feeling again that he had earlier. As he walk behind the bar towards the path that leads to the woods Hakeem heard footsteps in the gravel, he turned, there stood at the start of the path to the woods were the brothers, Wally and Raymond.
“Where are you going boy?”
“Boy? I’m not your boy and in case you haven’t heard, people don’t play that racial stuff any more.”
“We are not raciest because of your skin boy, we heard about you and your family, They say that your people killed a lot of our people long time ago”
“I don’t know what you are talking about, get out of my way” Hakeem went to pass Wally when Wally pushes him back.
“You going to let him push you like that, I think we need to teach him a listen Wally”
Hakeem Push his way pass Wally again and head further into the woods.
The brothers could not believe that he did that and wanted to get even with him. They started into the woods after him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only sound was in the night air was whispering winds, the sound of a clatter from the train riding the tracks in the distance. Hakeem woke looking at the moon from the window in front of him, in was in a bed that was not his, he sat up and look around the room, a bit famine but old fashion he thought to his self. “Where am I”
Hakeem sat up and was about to climb out of bed when Abigail walk in the room.
“Well hello there. How are you feeling?”
“I know you, you are the woman I seen outside of the bar last night”
Three nights ago”
“What?”
“It’s been three nights ago, but anyway you are lucky that my brother and I was still around, those old boys had it in for you.”
“I remember, two guys, behind the bar.”
“You don’t have to worry about them any more. All you need is your rest.”
“why”
Just the Dominic walks in the room carry a large wood box. The box was old dated all the way back some thousand years ago.
“Well I see that our guess has awakened and looking as well as I thought he would, how are you? I told you that you would need a friend didn’t I.”
“I know you too, what is this?”
“You don’t know who we are does you? Have your family ever told you about the Blafeld’s and the Vancouver’s?”
“No, should he have?”
“Yes he should have told you when you were at the age of eighteen; do you remember anything on your eighteen birthdays?”
Hakeem look at the wall, then up at the ceiling as if he was trying to remember his eighteen birthday.
Dominic walks over to a table, place the box he was carry on it.
“My friend I’m going to give you a brief history on the three families, Yours, the Francium, The Vancouver’s, my sisters and mines, and the Blafeld’s, the family of the guys that attack, well tried to attack you three nights ago. Thousands of years ago, your ancestors and my ancestors became very best of friends. They were so close they became blood brothers by carving a seal in their hands and joining the blood together. They fought many bloody battles together and won everyone, they both wanted it all the power, the battles, and the glory to say that they defends all so they made a deal with the Devil. He gave them power to win their wars and to seal the deal, at the end of the battles, they would have one last battle to win, The Blafeld’s, and the Blafeld has had a seal that the Devil wanted. They had to give it to him at the end of the war. Well they won the war between them and the Blafeld’s, and they gotten the seal, but when they say it, they kept it.”
Dominic hand Hakeem a picture of their ancestors and a large gold Coin, it was the seal that the devil wanted. On it had strange letters that only a few knew what it meant.
“That seal, those letters, I have the same marking on.”
“I know, it In the inside of your right thigh”. Dominic answered
“I have it to” said Abigail
“What do it means?”
Abigail handed Hakeem his clothing and started towards the window when a thin tall man wearing a white suite walk in.
“Sir your guess has arrived”
“Thank You.”
“Those tiny markings on your thigh means, we are curse for eternity.
“And what do that means, someday you will know, right now you need to get dress; I have some people for you to meet.”
“Abigail went over to Hakeem, Are you ok?”
“Yes. No, there is something happening to me and I do not know what it is. I do not know you people but you seem to know a great deal about me.’’
Ok I am Abigail; I was promise to you as a child. We, you and I guess we were meant to be together. My brother for years had been watching over you and kept an eye on you until this day had come”
“What day?”
“Today our families get together for our joining and make plans for marriage, lets face it we aren’t getting any younger, nor older in that matter.”
“What are you talking about , watching over me and not getting any older or younger”
“Younger or older”
“What ever.”
“Talk to me Abigail”
“I’ll talk and you get dress, I see you don’t remember much about your child hood do you, but anyway, when you was eighteen we met, we joined hands, see the scar in your hand, look I have the same one.”
Hakeem looked at his hand and saw the scar in his hand that he thought happen when he was a child.
Your mother has it and your father, so do their fathers and mothers. And mines too.”
“What about Dominic?” Hakeem asks looking puzzle about the whole thing Abigail was saying.
“Yes and he too had to marry, his wife name is Sondra De Londers from Normandy. You will meet her and her people tonight.”
“Are they Black?’’
“Mix breed just like you and me, Hakeem how old do you think you or I am?”
“I would guess you are Twenty two, I know I’m Twenty five.”
Abigail laugh,
“Are you ready to go down stairs and meet everyone?’’
Hakeem and Abigail entered the room where his family, her family, Dominic’s wife and family and a few other people were standing around all dress in white waiting for the two of them to come. His father walk up t o him and embraced him, his mother kiss him on his cheek.
Then a large man, a priest of some sort, stood in the center of the room and called Abigail and Hakeem.
“Hakeem tonight you will go on a journey as if you have never been on before, you will see things that you never seen, you will smell things different and you will feel very different. For yours your family kept you behind the truth, tonight, this night has come. The moon is whispering, and we must now tell you’re her secrete.”
Another man carry on a pillow, a long silver dagger with a black pearl handle alone with a Silver cup came and join them in the center of the room, everyone form a circle around Abigail and Hakeem.
The daggers were hand to Hakeem’s Father, and he then passed around the circle. Hakeem’s father was hand a silver cup with something in it., he took a sip and passed it around the circle, everyone sip from it.
When the man that was, standing next to the high priest had the Dagger and the cup, he and the priest sip from it too.
“Abigail and Hakeem, On this day twenty-five years ago, You two came together and joined together in blood on the night the moon whispered. Tonight you come before your family and friends to complete the joining of marriage are there any questions?”
“Yes, I don’t remember, I don’t remember us joining before, and we couldn’t have when you said we did cause that would put us older then what we are. I don’t know what is going on here but…”
Hakeem’s father walked up to him places his hand on his shoulder, took the cup from the man that was holding and said I promise you, You will remember, Do you trust me son?”
Dominic walk over to Hakeem,
“I will be with you like I always have been, See I too was given a promise, I promise to accept you as my baby brother and to take care of you like I always had been doing in the shadows. Trust me, drink so you can remember.”
Abigail grabs Hakeem hand, stood in front of him.
” I have been waiting a long time drink the moon is whispering and we must face her tonight.”
She slowly helped lead the cup to his mouth and he drunk…
Normally, darkness did not worry me. I am a creature of the moon; She and I go a long ways back. She once whispered to me., she told of the night, Sometimes I think perhaps she is just may be my mother, after all, we roaming the streets at ungodly hours. My love and I joins in the fullness of her light, her silver rays gives us the power to hunt, to become more then mortal, we becomes immortal, string and fearless. Her whispers shimmered through my veins–a hungry that would only get worse in the coming nights. I remember now Who I am, I remember my wife on the day meet before, I am a beast and I must set out in the night to hunt, my love must hunt. She took me out to hunt for the first time, she hunted before, and this will be my first. Under the moon watching eyes we change, our souls changed, we became something else. All I could smell was blood, blood that was thick and ripe.
Blood was all over her and all over me; it was itching and sticking to me.
We made love after the kill; It came natural to do so, the blood all over us that brought out the lust in us. Groaning and howling softly in the night in the heat of the lust. Other sensations began to creep through the fog encasing the flow of our blood. The night chill of the wind pressed against my spine. The gentle touch of her nails scratching my back. Sweat, the moisture against bare skin, It was a scent that filled the air of lover mating under the moon.
Abigail opens her eyes. A concrete ceiling loomed ominously above her, it look old and cold, cracks and missing plaster. .For a moment I she thought she was in some kind tomb. The bed was large fit for a queen to sleep in, the windows had no pane, and rain came in.
Hakeem came into the room carry a small jewelry box.
“Hello, did you sleep well?”
“Yes, Where am I?”
“Home, this is my home which is now your home. Do you remember anything?”
“The full moon, our joining ceremony and that is about it.”
“The full moon were eight days ago. And for it to have been so special for me you can’t remember”
“Last I remembered the full moon phase had only just begun. Somewhere along the line, I had lost eight days, Wow, What did you do to me?”
“What did our people do to us?”
“ Drink you must get your strength back, tonight we meet in the woods.
“Abigail, You don’t remember what happen eight days ago, nothing at all?”
She frowned, staring up at the wall, trying to get her remember.
“I remember, I remember become naked in the cold night. In addition, I am certain that something bad had happened. Did it, I remember Blood; being covered in blood.”
Hakeem sat on the side of the bed and grab Abigail in his arms, nothing bad happen, he hunt in the woods, that’ s all”
“That is all, no hunting bring out lust, did we.”
“You brought me passion like I never had before; look I got something for you.”
Hakeem gave her a silver Bracelet to wear, if anything should happen to you, I will know.
Abigail places the bracelet on her right wrist, when she notice Hakeem had one on resemblance the same. She smiled.
Holding her hand they stood to the window looking out into the darkness, the full moon shined bright, they could hear the sounds of wolves howling in the dark night.
He closed his eyes and tilted his head back slightly, his nostrils flared. He inhaled the scent of the trees in the woods, smelling the ocean waters, and the rich, earthy smell. The temptation of the moon alone was calling him to go. Rain had been falling lightly in the form of mist. Judging by the heaviness of the air, there would likely be more rain throughout the night and by morning,
“Run with me, let go.”
“Where?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes”
Then run with me”
“Run with me, he whispered.”
“Is it safe?”
“Are you afraid of the night?”
“No”
“Then run with me”
Categories: London Fog Leather Coats Tags: Moon, Whispering
re-post: Mystery unfolds in Y/A poetry section…any comments/critiques welcomed?
Skinny acid-wash jeans
calf high black leather boots
with five inch heels
slender body stacked for attention
dark brown hair that frames
her high cheek-boned face
Emerald eyes that sparkle
long black London Fog (coat)
mystery circumvents every step she takes
A smile that draws you near
FEAR: CHILLS
she carries a gun
smoldering from recent use
her eyes turn cold
(even a Marine would shudder)
a body lies in the shadows
is it someone we know?
a poet: a critic who
spews vile at everyone…
WHO?!
this beauty of a girl
who is she, where did she come from?
ice must run through her veins
Beware! she is turning her glare
…
BG–gotta love them German dudes! people are a thinkin SHE is me…nopes..she is a mystery person…
Categories: London Fog Leather Coats Tags: comments/critiques, mystery, poetry, repost, section...any, unfolds, welcomed