A year and a half ago I was fortunate enough to live in the great California city of Long Beach. The best part of living there was being able to step out my front door, take a few steps and be greeted with the breathtaking view of the Queen Mary. It was especially beautiful at night when she was decked out in hundreds of shimmering lights that reflected off the harbor waters. From my vantage point I could also see cruise ships delivering and picking up passengers. Even though the newer ships are larger, faster and ultra modern, they pale in comparison to the Queen Mary. She is a sight to behold. When you look at her you can't help but imagine what travel aboard her must have been like. Back in the days when men dressed like men and ladies dressed like ladies, unlike today where it's anybodies guess who's wearing that basic black dress or the tuxedo.
Queen Mary's sailing life began May 14th, 1936, sailing from Southampton, England bound for New York City. In her first year of service for the Cunard Lines she carried a total of 56,895 passengers across the Atlantic. Then came WWII. On 21 March, 1940, the Queen Mary left New York under orders to sail for Cape Town and Sydney. On arrival work began converting the ship into a troopship. The luxury furnishings were removed and tiers of bunks and hammocks were fitted. During the war she carried both British and US troops to various parts of the world and even at one time she returned to the USA from Europe carrying German POW's.
On 27 September, 1946 the Queen Mary was handed back to Cunard. During its war service it had traveled over 600,000 miles and carried nearly 800,000 people. A ten-month refit was then embarked upon at Southampton. Besides being refurnished for the commercial service a new stem and air-conditioning were fitted. The passenger accommodation was also altered to house 711 1st class, 707 cabin class and 577 tourist class passengers. For the next 20 years The Queen continued to ferry passengers to and from Europe in luxury. Then in the late fifties commercial passenger planes were making regularly scheduled flights across the Atlantic. Soon, the once Great Lady became a dinosaur along with her sister, Queen Elizabeth.
In 1967 the Cunard Lines put The Queen up for sale. Long Beach, fat with oil money, bought the world famous cruise ship. On October 31st, the soon to be retired ocean liner set sail for her new home. Rather than incurring a huge cost by making the crossing empty, for the last time she sailed as a cruise ship visiting Lisbon, Las Palmas, Rio de Janiero, Valparaiso, Callao, Balboa, Acapulco and finally dropping anchor at Long Beach on December 9th to begin her new life as a museum, luxury hotel and tourist attraction.
She sits there in the harbor, seemingly comfortable with her final resting place. The Queen has had a long and illustrious life, but her lights have not yet gone out. I have a feeling that for decades to come she's still going to be floating there in the Pacific waters, reminding us of the days of the Regal Ocean Liners
