Ahoy There!

Things have been quite busy in the last few months, and I apologize for neglecting this blog for as long as I have. I shall endeavor to keep up with it in the future. So in the meantime, here are some lovely photos of old ocean liners. Enjoy!

The Queen Mary's Main Hall

"The Shopping Center of the Queen Mary; here one may buy most everything that would be sold by the exclusive shops on Bond Street, London or Fifth Avenue, New York."

The Queen Mary's Main Hall has changed a little bit over the years, but not a terrible lot. It's still being used for its intended purpose as a shopping center - even 75 years after the maiden voyage.

The arcade contained a "smart haberdashery and clothing shop, a cigar store, a book shop and ship-to-shore telephone booths" for passenger use. In addition, Main Hall also provided access to the library, drawing room, lounge and bar. It had to have been a rather lively area when the ship sailed.

References: The "Queen Mary": A Pictorial Souvenir Of the "World's Largest Floating Palace" - QUEEN MARY (New York: Pier & Ocean Liner News Co., Inc., 1936).

Snapshot: Olympic & Mauretania

This photo was taken in 1935 and shows two former rivals at anchor - the White Star Line's Olympic and Cunard's Mauretania - shortly before going to the breakers that same year. Following the creation of the Cunard White Star Line in 1934, both aged ships were retired to make way for such new liners as the unfinished Queen Mary and planned Queen Elizabeth.

Mauretania went to Rosyth and Olypmic to Jarrow. The demolition of these two ships provided plenty of employment opportunities for these poverty-stricken areas.

Happy Birthday to Queen Elizabeth!

It was 73 years ago today that the RMS Queen Elizabeth was launched by HM Queen Elizabeth (consort to HM King George VI), in the company their Royal Highnesses Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. This ship was the highly anticipated running mate to the popular Queen Mary (launched four years prior).

The Queen Elizabeth, however, was a different ship than her older sister - and larger too. Building the Mary had allowed the shipbuilders to test new ideas and refine their methods. The effect? Elizabeth was the most technologically advanced liner in the world at that time.

The start of Lizzie's passenger service was interrupted, however, by World War II. She was secretly sailed out of Britain to New York - arriving in March 1940. She and Mary would transport over 1 million soldiers to all corners of the globe before resuming their intended careers as passenger liners.

Together, the two Cunard Queens ruled the transatlantic trade and remain two of the most famously popular ships in the world.

Happy Birthday to Queen Mary!

It was 77 years ago today that RMS Queen Mary was launched by HM Queen Mary (consort of HM King George V) at the John Brown Shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland. It was a true triumph for the British in the darkening days of the 1930s. She really was a symbol of Britain's maritime power.

The Queen Mary began life as Job #534 in December 1930, although construction halted a year later due to the Great Depression hitting Europe. Securing a loan from the British government, work resumed in 1934 which culminated in one of the most anticipated launches in maritime history.

Today the ship lays at anchor in Long Beach, California - a stunning, solitary reminder of the bygone age of transatlantic ocean travel and majestically big ships.

Snapshot: The Mauretania's Funnels

These two photos (which I do not own, for the record) show the funnel construction for the second Mauretania, launched in 1938. She was the first ship ordered by the newly formed Cunard White Star Line.

These pictures were taken while the ship was being constructed at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, England - right across the River Mersey from Liverpool.

Newsreels on Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Mauretania and Aquitania in World War II

The Cunard Line has played a role in transporting soldiers across the sea since the Crimean War in 1853, and World War II was no exception. The once-glamorous passenger ships were quickly transformed - camouflaged and armed - for the new task of trooping.


This collection of newsreels will show how the most famous ships in the world were pressed into service and took part in the overall Allied war effort.

The Majestic in the News

Here's a collection of three rather interesting newsreels regarding the RMS Majestic. Full credit for this compilation goes to sanderrodijk on YouTube.