The temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Porcelain Tower of Nanking
It was during 1931 that Cunard had started negotiations to buy out its main rival, the White Star Line. In December 1933 an agreement was reached whereby the two companies would merge to form Cunard White Star Ltd and the Government would lend the company ?9.5 million. The majority of this sum was to be used to complete the Queen Mary and build a sister ship. In April 1934 work began again on the ship. The work was completed by August and the ship was launched on 26 September by Queen Mary. Then it was taken to its fitting out berth.
The work on the ship was completed in March 1936 and it sailed out of the Clyde as far as Arran for preliminary trials. After sailing to Southampton to be painted, the Queen Mary was handed over to Cunard on 11 May. The passenger accommodation emphasised the first two classes, cabin and tourist. It made an inaugural cruise from Southampton on 14 May and then made its maiden voyage, on the Southampton-Cherbourg-New York route, on 27 May. The Queen Mary spent a short time in drydock during July whilst adjustments were made to the propellers and turbines. When the ship returned to service, in August, it made a record voyage from Bishop's Rock to Ambrose light and took the Blue Riband from the Normandie.
The ship went into drydock in December and alterations were made to the bulkheads. By May 1937 the Queen Mary had completed one year's service and had carried a total of 56,895 passengers. It made its last commercial voyage from Southampton on 30 August 1939 and then remained berthed at New York until the end of the year whilst it was decided what role the ship would play in the war.
The ship was drydocked again in February 1941 and then sailed between Australian ports and Singapore and Suez until November. As the Indian Ocean was becoming increasingly dangerous, with war looking imminent in the Far East and Pacific, the Queen Mary sailed to Boston. Here its trooping capacity was increased to 8,500 and it was fitted with heavier calibre guns and anti-aircraft cannons. The Queen Mary's future role was to be on the North Atlantic, however one urgent trip carrying US troops to Sydney was the priority. By late July 1942 it had returned to New York.
The Queen Mary sailed to New York to be refitted and then began the long process of repatriation. In January 1946 it began transporting GI brides to their new homes. By 3 May it transferred to Halifax to repatriate the wives and children of Canadian servicemen, which continued until September.
It made its last transatlantic crossing on 16 September 1967. There was considerable speculation regarding what the future use of the ship would be but this ended in July when Cunard agreed to sell the liner to the town of Long Beach for ?1,230,000.
The Queen Mary's journey to Long Beach was was turned into a cruise to recoup some of the costs of the voyage. It left on 31 October and called at Lisbon, Las Palmas, Rio de Janiero, Valparaiso, Callao, Balboa, Acapulco and finally at Long Beach. It arrived at Long Beach on 9 December to begin its new role as a museum, hotel and conference centre. The Queen Mary still remains there today as a testament to the supreme achievement of the Atlantic ferry.
