RMS Queen Mary
The World’s Favourite Liner
David Ellery
Published by Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorks S70 2AS
240 pages, hardbackediting@pen-and-sword.co.uk
Price £40
Probably the most famous and certainly one of the best-loved ships in the world, the Cunard transatlantic liner RMS Queen Mary has now been preserved at Long Beach, California as a floating hotel and tourist attraction for more than 50 years, considerably longer than her 31-year career as an ocean liner (see SM, Feb, Big Picture).
Queen Mary was laid down in 1930, but herin 1936, the ship was an instant success, capturing the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic later that year, and regaining it in 1938. During World War II she served as a troop ship, carrying 810,730 troops and also setting the record for the most individuals carried on a single voyage – 16,683 – which still stands.
