The former Cunard transatlantic passenger liner Queen Mary at Long Beach in the California sunshine in June 2023, at the site she has occupied for many years. Although her Long Beach years have not beenon how she will be managed, operated and maintained, and she reopened for visitors and hotel guests in May 2023. Restoration work is still ongoing, with her bridge and upper decks currently closed to visitors, although these areas are also expected to reopen soon, and there is optimism about her future, Queen Mary is an icon of British Maritime heritage and engineering. Her keel was laid down at the John Brown shipyard at Clydebank, Glasgow in December 1930. Work on her was suspended in 1932, when Cunard ran out of money due to the depression, but a government loan was secured, which enabled work to recommence in 1934. She made her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in May 1936 and twice won the coveted Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing.
