The Queen Mary has had an incredibly busy and exciting life. She was built in 1936 and sailed for 30 years before retiring in 1967.
I stayed on board the ship in 2011 and have always found the history of the ship to be fascinating.
She was built for the Cunard-White Star line and designed to sail across the Atlantic. Her sister was the RMS Queen Elizabeth.
In this article, we will explore what happened to the Queen Mary and look at any “near misses” she had.
Did the RMS Queen Mary Sink?
The Queen Mary did not sink at any point during her career. She was responsible for the sinking of the HMS Curacoa in 1942, but the Queen Mary survived the war relatively unscathed.
The RMS Queen Mary is now a floating hotel in Long Beach, California.
Between 1936 and 1939, the Queen Mary sailed across the Atlantic. She was designed for long voyages, and this is what she did for the majority of her time in operation.
In the summer of 1936, she won the Blue Riband, an award given to the ship that could cross the Atlantic in the quickest time.
The Queen Mary did lose her Blue Riband to the SS Normandie in 1937 but she got it back again in 1938.
The RMS Queen Mary Played a BIG Role In World War Two
In the Second World War, the Queen Mary was converted and repainted grey; she was given the nickname ‘Grey Ghost’
The Queen Mary and her sister the Queen Elizabeth became the fastest troopships in the war and could carry up to 16,000 troops per voyage.
The Queen Mary was only built to accommodate a little over 2000 passengers!
| Expected Passenger Number | Maximum Passengers During Wartime | % Capacity | |
| Queen Mary | 2100 | 16,000 | 760% |
In 1942 The Queen Mary Sank The HMS Curacoa
The HMS Curacoa was built for the Royal Navy during World War One. She was acting as an escort for the RMS Queen Mary in 1942 when the Queen Mary accidentally cut through the HMS Curacoa.
At the time of the accident, the Queen Mary was carrying 10,000 troops and was sailing in a zig-zag pattern to evade submarine attacks.
Both the Queen Mary and the HMS Curacoa thought that they had the right of way.
I said to my mate “You know she’s zig-zagging all over the place in front of us, I’m sure we’re going to hit her.” And sure enough, the Queen Mary sliced the cruiser in two like a piece of butter, straight through the six-inch armored plating.
Alfred Johnson – onboard Queen Mary
The Queen Mary was sailing at considerable speed (around 25 knots) and she had to carry on after hitting the HMS Curacoa.
It was the policy at the time that for safety reasons, the ship could not stop to pick up survivors as the threat of U-Boats was present.
Accounts differ as to whether the ship did stop to help survivors or not.
The case went to court a few years later, and the crew of the Queen Mary was cleared of any blame. It estimated that over 300 people died in the accident.
What Happened to The Queen Mary After World War Two?
In took almost a year for the Queen Mary to be refitted for passenger service.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the Queen Mary sailed with her sister the Queen Elizabeth. The two ships completed transatlantic voyages twice per week.
It was around this time that the Queen Mary completed her fastest transatlantic voyage, at 3 days and 22 hours.
The Queen Mary was an ocean liner, not a cruise ship and ocean liners are designed to be fast.
Ocean liners have a number of big differences when compared to modern-day cruise ships. To learn about the noticeable differences, including why ocean liners aren’t built anymore, check out this post:
Cruise Ships vs Ocean Liners – The Truth About How They Compare.
In 1967 the Queen Mary was retired. Transatlantic flights was becoming a popular, quick and affordable option. Longer transatlantic voyages by sea were becoming less desirable.
The Queen Mary sailed across the Atlantic 1000 times during her working life!
Is The Queen Mary Sinking Now?
The Queen Mary opened as a tourist attraction in 1971. I was lucky enough to stay on board the ship in 2011 and it wasn’t an experience I’ll ever forget.
In 2016 the city of long beach invested 23 million dollars into the most vital repairs of the Queen Mary but additional funding is still needed.
A report created in 2017 suggested that the Queen Mary was slowly sinking – and visibly leaking. Repairs then were expected to cost 300 million dollars.
Edward Pribonic, who has been inspecting the Queen Mary for 25 years, stated in 2019:
Without an immediate and very significant infusion of manpower and money, the condition of the ship will likely soon be unsalvageable
Edward Pribonic
Despite the current condition of the Queen Mary, she is not ‘sinking’.
When she was converted to be a hotel a lot of her parts were removed such as the engine rooms and boiler rooms. The ship really is just a floating hotel.
She is no longer seaworthy. They cut a hole in the side of the Queen Mary so that people could step outside of the ship while on the ship tour and see the propeller.
Lots of equipment has been removed from the ship when she was made into a hotel. At nearly 90 years old, she is not in a fit state to sail again. She would never pass modern-day safety regulations for a start…
2021 Bankruptcy Protection
The Queen Mary was forced to close to the public in May of 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. She has since reopened to the public and is a floating hotel once more.
Eagle Hospitality Trust (the company that operated the Queen Mary filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2021.
In 2021, the lease for the Queen Mary was surrendered back to the City of Long Beach, who have since begun repairs to restore the ship back to its original glory.
Find out more about the fascinating Queen Mary, and keep up to date with the latest refurbishment news here:
Before You Go
The Queen Mary and The Titanic both set sail within 30 years of each other, despite this there are some considerable differences between the two ships.
Titanic vs The Queen Mary 2 – Size, Power, and Speed Comparison
Find out the differences between the original Queen Mary, and the last Ocean Liner in service, Cunards Queen Mary 2 here:
Queen Mary vs The Queen Mary 2 – Size, Power, and Speed Comparison
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