On the 31st of July 1947, Queen Mary made her first peace time voyage after the war. There was no trace of the grime and dirt of the troops, or of the war. The 2,000 people aboard would have had a great voyage with all the staff making the return to service voyage a memorable one. As she left Southampton, across the Atlantic the Queen Elizabeth left New York. This was set to be the routine, a ship leaving each side at the same time. Whenever possible, the two ships would pass within 1000 feet of each other at sea. No matter what time of day it was, people would gather at the rails to watch the other ship pass.
One problem facing the Queen Mary was her constant rolling. As one person said, she could ‘roll the milk out of a cup of tea.’ So certain she would never encounter this problem, Cunard never installed storm-rails in the corridors, and many injuries were reported on the Queen Mary. Infact, one man, Paul Gallico was so amazed by the rolling he wrote a story which was later adapted into a movie about a liner that capsizes in a tidal wave. Fittingly, the Queen Mary starred in the movie, named The Poseidon Adventure. Finally in 1957, Cunard installed stabilisers to the hull of the Queen Mary. A list of less than 10 degrees could be corrected in seconds, though she would always be plagued by the rolls in heavy weather.
Throughout the 40’s and 50’s, Cunard was making a huge profit with the Queens, despite Queen Mary losing the Blue Riband to the SS United States in 1952. Sadly though, by the late 50’s and 60’s a new threat emerged not just for the Queen’s, but for every other ship on the Atlantic. By boarding an aircraft, a person could cross the Atlantic in 7 hours or less. By 1964, air travel had quadrupled, and Cunard’s bookings had halved. Finally, on May 8th, 1967, Captain William Lewis received a telegram from Sir Basil Smallpiece, newly appointed chairman of Cunard. "It is a matter of great regret to the Company and to me personally, as it will be to friends throughout the world, that these two fine ships, the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, must shortly come to the end of their working lives. They hold a unique position in the history of the sea, and in the affections of seafaring people everywhere. But we cannot allow our affections or our sense of history to divert us from our aim of making Cunard a thriving company and no other decision will make commercial sense."
No one, especially Cunard, wanted to see the Queen scrapped. Thankfully though, the city of Long Beach, California bought the Queen Mary for $3.5 million, and on October 31st, 1967, mixed with tears, well wishes and sirens, the Queen Mary slipped her moorings at Southampton and began what was called ‘The Last Great Cruise.’ This voyage would be Queen Mary’s longest in peace time, traversing 14,559 miles to her new home, a home she was never intended to see. Finally, at 11:30am on December 9th, 1967, welcomed by hundreds of small boats, she made her last landfall and steamed into Long Beach.
Today, the Queen Mary is a soulless hotel, conference centre and museum, but at least she is still with us. Her orange funnels rise above the Californian sky line and she is visited by thousands of holiday makers and ship enthusiasts yearly. It is my hope that in the years to come, I will be one of them…
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