Canadian Yachting June 2017 - 33

A glimpse of our maritime past:

The RMS Queen Mary
On the 80th anniversary of the Cunarder RMS Queen
Mary celebrating her maiden voyage to New York in 1936,
my wife Sheilagh and I spent a wonderful holiday aboard
the ship last November. The Queen Mary now serves as a
spectacular floating hotel and is moored in Long Beach,
California. We would like to share with you a glimpse of
the ship as she is today, as well as memories from her glory
days in war and peace. There is a lot to see aboard this
mammoth liner, and this can only be a very brief account.
Construction of the great ship grew quickly but tragedy
hit the Clydeside shipyard in 1931 as work had to be abandoned halfway through, forcing 3,000 men out of work as
Cunard was hard hit by a recession and declining passenger
traffic. After spending 2,000,000 British pounds, the company was out of private funds. It took a couple of years to
acquire new financial backing and to resume work. Through
this period, the ship was only known as Hull No. 534 and
it remained nameless for several years. Finally, in 1934, Her
Majesty Queen Mary named the ship after herself saying
"I am happy to name this ship Queen Mary. I wish good
luck to all who sail in her". With these words, Her Majesty
pressed the launching button and RMS Queen Mary entered sea service in 1936.
After 31 years at sea and completing over 1000 crossings of
the Atlantic, the Queen Mary was bought at auction in 1967
by the City of Long Beach for a mere $3.7 US million as the
cornerstone of the city's waterfront tourist development. It
has been a very successful enterprise: the Queen Mary has
been renovated over the past 50 years into a convention centre, a tourist attraction, and a hotel with more than 315 guest
rooms. The ship is a piece of living history, through which

the public can browse, and feel the past come alive through
the many excellent exhibits and guided tours. The city is now
embarking on a $30 US million restoration of the ship.
The vessel displaces 81,237 tons. The engines consisted
of 24 watertube boilers which produced 160,000 hp giving
the ship a top speed of more than 30 knots. She was known
as the Grand Old Lady of the Sea, a nickname she richly
deserved, having carried many thousands of passengers,
film stars, politicians, and royalty, all travelling in luxury
and style during the peace time voyages.
We found that the public spaces and our individual state
room were in remarkably good condition, with a significant
portion of the ship's original décor still intact. Although
some facilities were not available to us during our stay due
to the restoration underway, the ship nonetheless boasted a
variety of elegant lounges and restaurants. A dining room
on the starboard side offered great views across the bay and
to downtown Long Beach. Fine dining was also available in
Sir Winston's restaurant at the stern of the ship, which is the
main signature restaurant on board. The lounges were the
social centres of the ship and all three classes (First, Tourist
and Third) had libraries, swimming pools and playrooms.
The first class restaurant was one of the largest rooms afloat
and able to accommodate over 800 passengers, and the first
class lounge was used as a cinema and a ballroom for up to
400 people. Another stunning place on the ship was the Observation Bar, a wonderful Art Deco lounge with a superb
view towards the bow for those wanting to look out to sea.
We embarked on a two-hour guided tour of the ship that
took us from stem to stern: from the wheelhouse, full of
shining brass, to a dark chamber to view one of the four
www.canadianyachting.ca

33

THE PORT HOLE

André Dubois, AP, P/D/C Rideau
Kingston Power and Sail Squadron
http://www.canadianyachting.ca
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting June 2017
