RMS Queen Mary Map

RMS Queen Mary

The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California
History
Name:	Queen Mary
Namesake:	Mary of Teck, consort of George V
Owner:	1936–49: Cunard White Star 1949–67: Cunard Line 1967–present: City of Long Beach
Port of registry:	Liverpool
Route:	Southampton, New York, via Cherbourg (normal transatlantic voyage East and West bound)
Ordered:	3 April 1929
Builder:	John Brown and Company Clydebank, Scotland
Yard number:	534
Laid down:	1 December 1930
Launched:	26 September 1934
Sponsored by:	Queen Mary
Christened:	26 September 1934
Maiden voyage:	27 May 1936
Out of service:	9 December 1967 (retired)
Identification:	IMO number: 5287938 Radio Callsign: GBTT
Status:	Floating hotel and museum ship
General characteristics
Type:	Ocean liner
Tonnage:	80,774 GRT (1936) 81,237 GRT (1947)
Displacement:	77,400 long tons
Length:	1,019.4 ft (310.7 m) LOA 1,004 ft (306.0 m) LWL 965 ft (294.1 m) LBP
Beam:	118 ft (36.0 m)
Height:	181 ft (55.2 m)
Draught:	38 ft 9 in (11.8 m)
Decks:	12
Installed power:	24 × Yarrow boilers
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines 4 shafts, 200,000 shp (150,000 kW)[1]
Speed:	28.5 kn (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph) (service) 32.84 kn (60.82 km/h; 37.79 mph) (achieved on speed trials)
Capacity:	2,139 passengers: 776 first (cabin) class, 784 cabin class, 579 tourist class
Crew:	1101
RMS Queen Mary
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Coordinates	33°45′11″N 118°11′23″W / 33.75306°N 118.18972°W / 33.75306; -118.18972Coordinates: 33°45′11″N 118°11′23″W / 33.75306°N 118.18972°W / 33.75306; -118.18972
NRHP reference No.	92001714[2]
Added to NRHP	15 April 1993

The RMS Queen Mary is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line (known as Cunard-White Star Line when the vessel entered service) and built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. Queen Mary, along with RMS Queen Elizabeth,^[3] were built as part of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service between Southampton, Cherbourg and New York. The two ships were a British response to the express superliners built by German, Italian and French companies in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage on 27 May 1936 and won the Blue Riband that August;^[4] she lost the title to SS Normandie in 1937 and recaptured it in 1938, holding it until 1952 when it was taken by the new SS United States. With the outbreak of the Second World War, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers during the conflict.

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 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. 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.^[5]