Natural Gas Generator

Construction and naming

With Germany launching their Bremen and Europa into service, the British did not want to be left out in the ship building race. White Star Line began construction on their 60,000 ton Oceanic in 1928, while Cunard planned a 75,000 ton unnamed ship of their own.

Construction on the ship, then known only as “Hull Number 534″, began in December 1930 on the River Clyde by the John Brown & Company Shipbuilding and Engineering shipyard at Clydebank Scotland. Work was halted in December 1931 due to the Great Depression and Cunard applied to the British Government for a loan to complete 534. The loan was granted, with enough money to complete the Queen Mary and to build a running mate, Hull No. 552 which would become the Queen Elizabeth. One condition of the loan was that Cunard would merge with the White Star Line, which was Cunard’s chief British rival at the time and which had already been forced by the Depression to cancel construction on its Oceanic. Both lines agreed and the merger was completed in April 1934. Work on the Queen Mary resumed immediately and she was launched on 26 September 1934. Completion ultimately took 3 years and cost 3 million pounds sterling in total. Much of the ship’s interior was designed and constructed by the Bromsgrove Guild.

The ship was named after Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. Until her launch the name she was to be given was kept a closely guarded secret. Legend has it that Cunard intended to name the ship “Victoria”, in keeping with company tradition of giving its ships names ending in “ia”. However, when company representatives asked the King’s permission to name the ocean liner after Britain’s “greatest queen”, he said his wife, Queen Mary, would be delighted. And so, the legend goes, the delegation had of course no other choice but to report that No. 534 would be called RMS Queen Mary. This story was denied by company officials, and traditionally the names of sovereigns have only been used for capital ships of the Royal Navy. Some support for the story was provided by Washington Post editor Felix Morley, who sailed as a guest of the Cunard Line on the 1936 maiden voyage of the Queen Mary. In his 1979 autobiography, For the Record, Morley wrote that he was placed at table with Sir Percy Bates, chairman of the Cunard Line. Bates told him the story of the naming of the ship “on condition you won’t print it during my lifetime.” The name Queen Mary could also have been decided upon as a compromise between Cunard and the White Star Line, with which Cunard had recently merged, both lines had tradition of using names either ending in “ic” with White Star and “ia” with Cunard.

History (1934-1939)

Queen Mary 1936

There was already a Clyde turbine steamer named Queen Mary, so Cunard White Star reached agreement with the owners that the existing steamer would be renamed TS Queen Mary II, and in 1934 the new liner was launched by Queen Mary as RMS Queen Mary. On her way down the slipway, the Queen Mary was slowed by eighteen drag chains, which checked the liner’s progress into the Clyde, a portion of which had been widened to accommodate the launch.

When she sailed on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England on 27 May 1936, she was commanded by Sir Edgar T. Britten, who had been the master designate for Cunard White Star whilst the ship was under construction at the John Brown shipyard. The Queen Mary had a gross tonnage (GT) of 80,774 tons; her rival, Normandie, which originally grossed 79,280 tonnes, had been modified the preceding winter to increase her size to 83,243 GT (an enclosed tourist lounge was built on the aft boat deck on the area where the game court was), and therefore kept the title of the largest ocean liner. The Queen Mary sailed at high speeds for most of her maiden voyage to New York until heavy fog forced a reduction of speed on the final day of the crossing.

The Observation Bar lounge. The windows were once part of the enclosed Promenade Deck turnaround; the lounge was extended forward after 1967.

The Queen Mary’s design was criticized for being too traditional, especially when the Normandie’s hull was revolutionary with a clipper shaped, streamlined bow. Except for her cruiser stern, she seemed to be simply an enlarged version of her Cunard predecessors from the pre World War I era. Her interior design, while mostly Art Deco, still seemed restrained and conservative when compared to the ultramodern French liner. However, the Queen Mary proved to be the more popular vessel than its larger rival, in terms of passengers carried.

In August 1936, Queen Mary captured the Blue Riband from Normandie, with average speeds of 30.14 knots (55.82 km/h) westbound and 30.63 knots eastbound. Normandie was refitted with a new set of propellors in 1937 and reclaimed the honour, but in 1938 Queen Mary took back the Blue Riband in both directions with average speeds of 30.99 knots (57.39 km/h) westbound and 31.69 knots eastbound, records which stood until lost to the SS United States in 1952.

Interior

The First Class dining room map on the Queen Mary, which tracked the ship’s progress across the Atlantic Ocean.

Onboard amenities on the Queen Mary varied according to class, with First Class passengers accorded the most space and luxury. Among facilities available on board the Queen Mary, the liner featured an indoor swimming pool, salon, ship’s library, children’s nursery, outdoor paddle tennis court, and ship’s kennel. The largest room was the first class dining room (grand salon), which spanned three stories in height and was anchored by wide columns. The indoor swimming pool facility also spanned over two decks in height.

The first class dining room featured a large map of the transatlantic crossing, with twin tracks symbolizing the winter/spring route (further south to avoid icebergs) and the summer/autumn route. During each crossing, a motorized model of the Queen Mary would indicate the vessel’s progress en route.

The First Class dining room on the Queen Mary, also known as the Grand Salon.

As an alternative to the first class dining room, the Queen Mary featured a separate Verandah Grill on the Sun Deck at the upper aft of the ship. The Verandah Grill was an exclusive la carte restaurant with a capacity of approximately eighty passengers, and was converted to the Starlight Club at night. Irish writer and broadcaster, Brian Cleeve spent several months as a commis waiter on the ship in 1938, after he ran away from school. Also on board was the Observation Bar, an Art Deco styled lounge, with wide ocean views.

Woods from different regions of the British Empire were used in her public rooms and staterooms. Accommodations ranged from fully equipped, luxurious first class staterooms to modest and cramped third class cabins. Artists commissioned by Cunard in 1933 for works of art in the interior include Edward Wadsworth and A. Duncan Carse.

World War II

Arriving in New York Harbor, 20 June 1945, with thousands of U.S. troops.

In late August 1939, the Queen Mary was on a return run from New York to Southampton. The international situation led to her being escorted by the battlecruiser HMS Hood. She arrived safely, and set out again for New York on 1 September. By the time she arrived, the Second World War had started and she was ordered to remain in port until further notice alongside the Normandie. In 1940 the Queen Mary and the Normandie were joined in New York by Queen Mary’s new running mate Queen Elizabeth, fresh from her secret dash from Clydebank. The three largest liners in the world sat idle for some time until the Allied commanders decided that all three ships could be used as troopships (unfortunately, the Normandie would be destroyed by fire during her troopship conversion). The Queen Mary left New York for Sydney, where she, along with several other liners, was converted into a troopship to carry Australian and New Zealand soldiers to the United Kingdom. In the conversion, her hull, superstructure and funnels were painted navy grey. Inside, stateroom furniture and decoration were removed and replaced with triple-tiered wooden bunks (which would later be replaced by standee bunks). Six miles of carpet, 220 cases of china, crystal and silver service, tapestries and paintings were removed and stored in warehouses for the duration of the war. The woodwork in the staterooms, the first-class dining room and other public areas were covered with leather. Eventually joined in troop service by the Queen Elizabeth, the two ships were the largest and fastest troopships involved in the war, often carrying as many as 15,000 men in a single voyage, and often travelling out of convoy and without escort. Their high speed meant that it was difficult for U boats to catch them.

On 2 October 1942, Queen Mary accidentally sank one of her escorts, slicing through the light cruiser HMS Curacoa off the Irish coast, with the loss of 338 lives. Due to the constant danger of being attacked by U-Boats, on board the Queen Mary Captain C. Gordon Illingworth was under strict orders not to stop for any reason, the Royal Navy destroyers accompanying the Queen were ordered to stay on course and not rescue any survivors.

The forward section of the Queen Mary was fitted with new big windows and anti-aircraft guns seen here in Long Beach.

In December 1942, the Queen Mary was carrying 16,082 American troops from New York to Great Britain, a standing record for the most passengers ever transported on one vessel. While 700 miles from Scotland during a gale, she was suddenly hit broadside by a rogue wave that may have reached a height of 28 metres (92 ft). An account of this crossing can be found in Walter Ford Carter’s book, No Greater Sacrifice, No Greater Love. Carter’s father, Dr. Norval Carter, part of the 110th Station Hospital on board at the time, wrote that at one point the Queen Mary “damned near capsized… One moment the top deck was at its usual height and then, swoom! Down, over, and forward she would pitch.” It was calculated later that the ship tilted 52 degrees, and would have capsized had she rolled another 3 degrees. The incident inspired Paul Gallico to write his story, The Poseidon Adventure, which was later made into a film by the same name, using the Queen Mary as a stand-in for the SS Poseidon.

During the war, the Queen Mary carried British Prime Minister Winston Churchill across the Atlantic for meetings with fellow Allied forces officials on several occasions, he would be listed on the passenger manifest as “Colonel Warden” and insisted that the lifeboat assigned to him be fitted with a .303 machine gun so that he could “resist capture at all costs”.

After World War II

The Queen Mary in Southampton, June 1956

From September 1946 to July 1947, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service, adding air conditioning and upgrading her berth configuration to 711 first class, 707 cabin class and 577 tourist class passengers. Following refit, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth dominated the transatlantic passenger trade as Cunard White Star’s two ship weekly express service through the latter half of the 1940s and well into the 1950s. They proved highly profitable for Cunard. But in 1958, the first transatlantic flight by a jet began a completely new era of competition for the Cunard Queens. On some voyages, winters especially, Queen Mary sailed into harbour with more crew than passengers. (But she and her sister Queen Elizabeth still averaged over 1000 passengers per crossing into the middle 1960s.) By 1965, the entire Cunard fleet was leaving a trail of red ink. Hoping to continue financing their still under construction Queen Elizabeth 2, Cunard mortgaged the majority of the fleet. Finally, under a combination of age, lack of public interest, inefficiency in a new market, and the damaging after effects of the national seamen’s strike, Cunard announced that both the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth would be retired from service (the Elizabeth would leave service one year later) and were to be sold off. Many offers were submitted, but it was Long Beach, California who beat the Japanese scrap merchants. And so, Queen Mary was retired from service in 1967, while her running mate Queen Elizabeth was withdrawn in 1968. RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 took over the transatlantic route in 1969.

The Queen Mary in Long Beach

The Queen Mary from the Northern side of Long Beach harbor

After her retirement in 1967, she steamed to Long Beach, California, where she is permanently moored as a tourist attraction. From 1983 to 1993, the Queen Mary was accompanied by Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose, which was located in a large dome nearby (the dome is now used by Carnival Cruise Lines as a ship terminal, and formerly as a soundstage).

Since drilling had started for oil in Long Beach Harbor, some of the revenue had been set aside in the “Tidelands Oil Fund.” Some of this money was allocated in 1958 for the future purchase of a maritime museum for Long Beach.

Conversion

When the Queen Mary was bought by Long Beach, they decided that the ship would be an iconic host and not for preserving her as an ocean liner. It had been decided to clear almost every area of the ship below C deck (called R deck after 1950 to lessen passenger confusion all the restaurants were on “R” deck) to make way for the museum. This would increase museum space to 400,000 square feet. It required removal of all the boiler rooms, the forward engine room, both turbo generator rooms, the ship stabilisers and the water softening plant. The ship’s now empty fuel tanks were then filled with local mud which would keep the ship’s centre of gravity and draft at the correct levels, as these critical factors had been affected by the removal of all various components and structure. Only the aft engine room and “shaft alley”, at the stern of the ship, would be spared from the cutter’s torch. Remaining space would be used for storage or office space. One problem that arose during the conversion was a dispute between land based and maritime unions over conversion jobs. The United States Coast Guard had final say; the Queen Mary was deemed a building, since most of her propellers had been removed and her machinery gutted. The ship was also repainted with its red water level paint a slightly higher than its old one. During the conversion the funnels were removed as it was the only practical way to lift out the the scrap materials from the engine and boiler rooms, subsiquently it was found that the funnels were held together with over thirty coats of paint and that they had to be replaced with new replica items.

A passageway in First Class accommodation, now part of the onboard hotel

With all of the lower decks nearly gutted from R deck and down, Diner’s Club, the initial lessee of the ship, was to convert the remainder of the vessel into a hotel. Diner’s Club Queen Mary dissolved and vacated the ship in 1970 after their parent company, Diner’s Club International was sold, and a change in corporate direction was mandated amidst the conversion process. Specialty Restaurants, a Los Angeles based company that focused on theme based restaurants, would take over as master lessee the following year.

During this conversion, the plan was to convert most of her first and second class cabins on A and B decks only into hotel rooms, and convert the main lounges and dining rooms into banquet spaces. On Promenade Deck, the starboard promenade deck would be enclosed to feature an upscale restaurant and cafe called Lord Nelson’s and Lady Hamilton’s themed like early 19th century sailing ships. The famed and elegant Observation Bar was redecorated as a western themed bar.

The Queen Mary’s bridge, now open to visitors

The smaller first class public rooms such as the Drawing Room, Library, Lecture Room and the Music studio would be stripped of most of their fittings and converted over to retail space, heavily expanding the retail presence on the ship. Two more shopping malls were built on the Sun Deck in separate spaces previously used for first class cabins and engineer’s quarters.

A post war feature of the ship, the first class cinema, was removed for kitchen space for the new Promenade deck dining venues. The first class lounge and smoking room were reconfigured and converted into banquet space, while the second class smoking room would be subdivided into a wedding chapel and office space. On Sun Deck, the elegant Verandah Grill would be gutted and converted into a fast food eatery, while a new upscale dining venue would be created directly above it on Sports Deck in space once used for crew quarters. The second class lounges would be expanded to the sides of the ship and used for banqueting. On R deck, the first class dining room was reconfigured and subdivided into two banquet venues, the Royal Salon and the Windsor Room. The second class dining room would be subdivided into kitchen storage and a crew mess hall, while the third class dining room would initially be used as storage and crew space. Also on R deck, the first class Turkish bath complex, the 1930s equivalent to a spa, would be removed. The second class pool would be removed and its space initially used for office space, while the first class swimming pool would be used for hotel guests. Combined with modern safety codes, and the structural soundness of the area directly below, the swimming pool is no longer in use.

No crew cabins remain intact aboard the ship today. She now serves as a hotel, museum, tourist attraction, and for rent site for events, but her financial results have been mixed.

The Queen Mary as a tourist attraction

On 8 May 1971, the Queen Mary opened its doors to tourists. Initially, only portions of the ship were open to the public as Specialty Restaurants had yet to open its dining venues or the hotel. As a result, the ship was only open on weekends. In December of that year, Jacques Cousteau’s Museum of the Sea opened, with only a quarter of the planned exhibits built. Within the decade, Cousteau’s museum closed due to low ticket sales and the deaths of many of the fish that were housed in the museum. In November of the following year, the hotel opened its initial 150 guest rooms. Hyatt operated the hotel from 1974 to 1980, when the Jack Wrather Corporation signed a 66-year lease with the city of Long Beach to operate the entire property. Wrather was taken over by the Walt Disney Company in 1988, Wrather owned the Disneyland Hotel, which Disney had been trying to buy for 30 years; the Queen Mary was thus an afterthought and was never marketed as a Disney property.

First Class accommodations on the Queen Mary, converted into a present-day hotel room with modern curtains, bedding and amenities surrounded by original wood paneling, portholes and light fixtures.

Through the late eighties and early nineties, the Queen Mary continued to struggle financially. During the Disney years, Disney planned to develop a theme park on the remaining land. This theme park eventually opened a decade later in Japan as DisneySea, with a recreated oceanliner resembling the Queen Mary as its centerpiece. Hotel Queen Mary closed in 1992 when Disney gave up the lease on the ship to focus on what would become Disney’s California Adventure. The tourist attraction remained open for another two months, but by the end of 1992, the Queen Mary completely closed its doors to tourists and visitors.

In February 1993, under the direction of President and C.E.O. Joseph F. Prevratil, RMS Foundation, Inc began a five-year lease with the city of Long Beach to act as the operators of the property. Later that month, the tourist attraction reopened completely, while the hotel reopened in March. In 1995, RMS’s lease was extended to twenty years while the extent of the lease was reduced to simply operation of the ship itself. A new company, Queen’s Seaport Development, Inc. (QSDI) came into existence in 1995 controlling the real estate adjacent to the vessel. In 1998, the City of Long Beach extended the QSDI lease to 66 years. In 2005, QSDI sought Chapter 11 protection due to a rent credit dispute with the City. In 2006, the bankruptcy court requested bids from parties interesting in taking over the lease from QSDI. The minimum required opening bid was $41M. The operation of the ship, by RMS, remained independent of the bankruptcy. In Summer 2007, the Queen Mary’s lease was sold to a group named “Save the Queen” managed by Hostmark Hospitality Group, who planned to develop the land adjacent to the Queen Mary, and upgrade, renovate, and restore the Queen Mary. During the time of their management, staterooms were updated with Ipod docking stations and flatscreen TV’s, the ships three funnels were repainted their original Cunard Red color, as well as the ships waterline area, The portside Promenade Deck’s planking was restored and refinished, as well as work on other parts of the ship, many lifeboats were repaired and patched, and the ships kitchens were renovated with new equipment.

In late September 2009, the Queen Mary’s management was taken over by Delaware North Companies, who plan to continue restoration, and renovation of the ship and its property, and work to revitalize and enhance one of the grandest ocean liners of all time.

In 2004, the Queen Mary and Stargazer Productions added Tibbies Great American Cabaret to the space previously occupied by the ship’s bank and wireless telegraph room. Stargazer Productions and the Queen Mary transformed the space into a working dinner theater complete with stage, lights, sound, and scullery.

Meeting of the Queens

On 23 February 2006, the RMS Queen Mary 2 saluted her predecessor as it made its port of call in Los Angeles Harbor, while on a cruise to Mexico. The event was covered heavily by local and international media.

Ship’s horn

The salute itself was carried out with the Queen Mary blowing her one working air horn in response to the Queen Mary 2 blowing her combination of two brand new horns pointing forward and an original 1932 Queen Mary horn (donated by the City of Long Beach) aimed aft. The Queen Mary originally had three whistles tuned to 55 Hz, a frequency chosen because it was low enough that the extremely loud sound of it would not be painful to human ears. Modern IMO regulations specify ships’ horn frequencies to be in the range 70200 Hz for vessels that are over 200 metres (660 ft) in length. Traditionally, the lower the frequency, the larger the ship. The Queen Mary 2, being 345 metres (1,130 ft) long, was given the lowest possible frequency (70 Hz) for her regulation whistles, in addition to the refurbished 55 Hz whistle on permanent loan. 55 Hz is the lower bass “A” note found an octave up from the lowest note of a piano keyboard. The air-driven Tyfon whistle can be heard at least ten miles away.

W6RO

Queen Mary’s wireless radio room

The Queen Mary’s original, professionally manned wireless radio room was destroyed once the ship arrived in Long Beach. In its place an amateur radio room was created one deck above the original radio reception room with some of the discarded original radio equipment used for display purposes only. The amateur radio station with the call sign W6RO (“Whiskey Six Romeo Oscar”) relies on volunteers from a local amateur radio club. They are present most of the time the ship is open to the public, and the radios can also be used by other licensed amateur radio operators.

In honor of his over forty years of dedication to W6RO and the Queen Mary, in November 2007 the Queen Mary Wireless Room was renamed The Nate Brightman Radio Room. This was announced on 28 October 2007 at Mr. Brightman’s 90th birthday party by Joseph Prevratil, President and CEO of the Queen Mary.

Paranormal

The Queen Mary at night, with spotlight on the Soviet submarine B-427

Ghosts were reported on board only after permanently docked in California. Many areas are rumored to be haunted. Reports of hearing little children crying in the nursery room, actually used as the third-class playroom, and a mysterious splash noise in the drained first-class swimming pool are cited. In 1966, 18-year-old engineer John Pedder was crushed by a watertight door in the engine room during a fire drill, and his ghost is said to haunt the ship. There is also said to be the spirit of a young girl named Jackie who was murdered in the pool room haunts the first class pool onboard the ship. It is also said that men screaming and the sound of metal crushing against metal can be heard belowdecks at the extreme front end of the bow. Those who have heard this believe it to be the screams of the sailors aboard the HMS Curacoa at the moment the destroyer was split in half by the liner.
The Queen Mary operates daily paranormal themed tours, some of which have theatrics applied for dramatic effect. The ship maintains a haunted maze and expands to multiple mazes during the Halloween season.

The Queen Mary has been the subject of numerous professional paranormal investigations by printed publications like Beyond Investigation Magazine, nationally televised shows like Ghost Hunters, The Othersiders, and radio’s Coast to Coast AM. The UK paranormal television program, Most Haunted, investigated the ship in a special two-part episode.

On screen

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (February 2010)

In its permanent berth in Long Beach, the Queen Mary has been used as a filming location for numerous films, television episodes, and commercials. Some examples are:

Assault on a Queen (1966)

The Poseidon Adventure (1972). Some of the Poseidon ship scenes were filmed on board the Queen Mary. A 26-foot long miniature of the ship was used in special effects shots.

Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)

The Gumball Rally (1976). The pier in Long Beach where the ship is located was the finish line for the cross-country race.

S.O.S. Titanic (1979), in which the Queen Mary doubled for her ill-fated predecessor.

Goliath Awaits (1981), About an ocean liner named the Goliath being sunk during World War II and the survivors forming an underwater society.

Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), The murder at the beginning of the film was filmed in the First Class swimming pool area of the Queen Mary.

Toyota’s advertisement for Celica All-trac Turbo in the 1991 Long Beach Grand Prix featured the Queen Mary, with the tagline, “On 14 April, we’re going streaking in front of the Queen.”

Murder, She Wrote (1989), Episode entitled “The Grand Old Lady” takes place on the Queen Mary in 1947.

Bold and the Beautiful (1989)
Tidal Wave: No Escape (1997). Harve Presnell destroys the Queen Mary with an artificial tsunami.

“Triangle,” an episode of The X-Files, featured the Queen Mary as the fictional Queen Anne.

Pearl Harbor (2001).

Escape from L.A. (1996).

Being John Malkovich (1999), parts of the movie were shot on board.

Fiona Apple’s “O’ Sailor” video.

Most Haunted (2005).

The Amazing Race 7 (2005). The starting line for the 7th season.

Airwolf episode “Desperate Monday”.

“Development Arrested”, series finale of Arrested Development (2006).

The ship was used as the home for the finalists of reality TV show Last Comic Standing in the fourth season (2006).

National Lampoon’s Dorm Daze 2 (2006).

The 2007 Cold Case episode World’s End.

The Queen Mary was one location the TAPS crew investigated for hauntings during the second season of the TV series Ghost Hunters.

The Queen Mary was the site of Vincent Chase’s Birthday in the episode “Less Than 30″, of the 3rd Season of Entourage (TV Series).

The Queen Mary is featured on a 2007 Jonas Brothers music video, where they perform their single SOS on the ocean liner.

Portrayed the German liner SS Bremen in the 1983 mini-series The Winds of War based on the 1971 novel by Herman Wouk.

An episode of Quantum Leap took place on the Queen Mary.

The 1997 romantic comedy Out to Sea (with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau) used the Queen Mary as filming location.

The Queen Mary was the set of “The Search for the Next Elvira”, where many hopeful young women contended to be the next “Mistress of the Dark”.

Miss America: Countdown to the Crown (2009), a reality competition show; part of the precompetition for the Miss America 2009 pagent.

An episode of New York Goes to Work used the Queen Mary as a filming location (2009).

The Othersiders (2009), The team investigated here for paranormal activity.

Legally Blondes (2008).

In popular culture

This “In popular culture” section may contain minor or trivial references. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject’s impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances, and remove trivia references. (February 2010)

The album title for Apologies to the Queen Mary by Wolf Parade references an incident on the ship in which the band was involved.

Most of the series finale of Arrested Development takes place on the ship.

The music video of the Jonas Brothers song SOS was filmed aboard the Queen Mary.

A season one episode of Moonlight features the Queen Mary as the location of a murder of a stalked Hollywood star.

The Queen Mary is referenced in episode 7 of the ABC Family series The Middleman, “The Cursed Tuba Contingency”. One of the episode’s villains has a ship which he boasts is “three feet longer than the Queen Mary, and eighty-six feet longer than the Titanic.” In reality, the Queen Mary (at 965 feet perpendiculars) really is eighty-three feet longer than the Titanic (at 882 feet).

In the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, the Queen Mary plays a major part as the start of Edward’s Journey. Edward, a china rabbit, is on the Queen Mary with his owner, a little girl named Abileine. Two boys accidentily throw Edward overboard, and the rabbit starts out on his journey. The Queen Mary is referenced in the text and in a painting in the book.

In Tim Powers’s book Expiration Date, the Queen Mary plays a significant part, related to the supernatural legends above.

See also

“It’s Men that Count”; late 1930s promotional poster for the Cunard Line

RMS Mauretania (1938)

RMS Queen Elizabeth

RMS Queen Elizabeth 2

MS Queen Elizabeth

RMS Queen Mary 2

MS Queen Victoria

References

Notes

^ Royal Lady – The Queen Mary Reigns in Long Beach

^ The Bromsgrove Guild – an illustrated history, The Bromsgrove Society

^ a b c Maxtone-Graham, John. The Only Way to Cross. New York: Collier Books, 1972, p. 288

^ “Chains brake liner at launching”. Popular Science. 1934-12. http://books.google.com/books?id=uigDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved 2009-11-02. 

^ Atlantic Liners: RMS Queen Mary

^ ocean-liners.com SS Normandie

^ Bruce, Jim, Faithful Servant: A Memoir of Brian Cleeve Lulu, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84753-064-6, (pp.50-55)

^ Modern art takes to the waves

^ The Historic Queen Mary – RMS Foundation, Inc.

^ Levi, Ran. “The Wave That Changed Science”. The Future of Things. http://thefutureofthings.com/column/1005/the-wave-that-changed-science.html. Retrieved 2009-11-02. 

^ Lavery, Brian. Churchill Goes to War: Winston’s Wartime Journeys. Naval Institute Press, 2007, p. 213.

^ OceanLiners.com. RMS Queen Mary

^ Harvey, Clive (2008). R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth-The Ultimate Ship. Carmania Press. ISBN 9780954366681. 

^ The Queen Mary. The Queen Mary’s History

^ Long Beach Report. A REPORT ON THE QUEENSWAY BAY DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND THE LONG BEACH TIDE AND SUBMERGED LANDS. State Lands Commission, April 2001

^ Tibbies Cabaret. History. Retrieved on August 8, 2009.

^ USATODAY.com – Queen Mary 2 to meet original Queen Mary in Long Beach harbor

^ ‘Queen Mary’s horn (MP3) – PortCities Southampton

^ The Funnels and Whistles

^ Welcome to kockum sonics: Tyfon IMO regulations

^ “The voice of the Queen Mary can be heard ten miles away” (JPG image)

^ W6RO – Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach

^ Human Touch Draws Ham Radio Buffs, Gazettes Newspaper

^ The wireless installation on RMS Queen Mary

^ Chisholm, Charlyn Keating. “Haunted Hotel – Queen Mary Hotel in Long Beach, California”. About.com. http://hotels.about.com/od/hauntedhotelsatoz/p/hau_queenmary.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25. 

^ Winer, Richard, Ghost Ships

^ Queen Mary – Attractions at Night QueenMary.com

^ Queen Mary’s Shipwreck – Annual Halloween fest

^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VUZK-D5czs&feature=related

Bibliography

The Cunard White Star Quadruple-screw North Atlantic Liner, Queen Mary. – Bonanza Books, 289 p., 1979. – ISBN 0517279290. Largely a reprint of a special edition of “The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-builder” from 1936.

Cunard Line, Ltd., John Brown and Company archives.

Clydebank Central Library Clydebank, Scotland.

Roberts, Andrew, Masters and Commanders: How four titans won the war in the West, 1941-1945, Harper Collins e-Books, London

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: RMS Queen Mary

Website of current commercial operator (Event listings as well as Facts & History section)

Queen Mary Alternative Visions (Describes the construction and conversion of the Queen Mary and advocates its partial restoration)

Time Magazine: The Queen; 11 August 1947

The Great Ocean Liners: RMS Queen Mary

Clydebank Restoration Trust

RMS Queen Mary at Chris’ Cunard Page (The Last Great Atlantic Fleet)

Coordinates: 334511 1181123 / 33.7531N 118.1898W / 33.7531; -118.1898

Records

Preceded by

Normandie

Holder of the Blue Riband (Westbound)

1936 1937

Succeeded by

Normandie

Atlantic Eastbound Record

1936 1937

Holder of the Blue Riband (Westbound)

1938 1952

Succeeded by

United States

Atlantic Eastbound Record

1938 1952

v  d  e

Cunard ships

Current Fleet

RMS Queen Mary 2 (2004)   MS Queen Victoria (2007)

Planned

MS Queen Elizabeth (2010)

Former Ships

RMS Britannia (1840)   RMS Persia (1856)   SS Abyssinia (1870)   SS Servia (1881)   RMS Etruria (1884)   RMS Umbria (1884)   RMS Campania (1892)   RMS Lucania (1893)   SS Ivernia (1899)   RMS Carpathia (1903)   RMS Carmania (1905)   RMS Caronia (1905)   RMS Lusitania (1907)   RMS Mauretania (1907)   RMS Franconia (1910)   RMS Ascania (1911)   RMS Albania (1911)   RMS Ausonia (1911)   RMS Laconia (1912)   RMS Alaunia (1913) (1913)   RMS Aquitania (1913)   SS Orduna (1914)   SS Empire Barracuda (1918)   RMS Albania (1920)   RMS Antonia (1921)   RMS Ausonia (1921)   RMS Scythia (1921)   RMS Andania (1922)   RMS Berengaria (1922)   RMS Laconia (1922)   RMS Lancastria (1922)   RMS Majestic (1922)   RMS Ascania (1923)   RMS Aurania (1924)   SS Letitia (1924)   RMS Alaunia (1925)   RMS Carinthia (1925)   SS Laurentic (1927)   RMS Britannic (1929)   RMS Georgic (1934)   RMS Olympic (1934)   RMS Queen Mary (1936)   RMS Mauretania (1939)   SS Pasteur (1939)  MV Empire Audacity (1939)   RMS Queen Elizabeth (1940)   SS Empire Battleaxe (1943)   SS Empire Broadsword (1943)   SS Valacia (1943)   RMS Media (1947)   RMS Caronia (1949)   RMS Saxonia (1954)   RMS Ivernia (1955)   RMS Carinthia (1956)   RMS Sylvania (1957)   RMS Alaunia (1960)   RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (1967)   MS Cunard Adventurer (1971)   MS Cunard Ambassador (1972)   MS Cunard Countess (1975)   MS Cunard Princess (1976)   MS Sagafjord (1983)   MS Caronia (1983)   MS Royal Viking Sun (1994)

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U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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Categories: Art Deco ships | Blue Riband holders | Clyde-built ships | Landmarks in Los Angeles, California | Ocean liners | Museum ships in California | Passenger ships of the United Kingdom | National Register of Historic Places in California | Rogue wave incidents | Ships of Scotland | Ships of the Cunard Line | Ships on the National Register of Historic Places | Steamships | Visitor attractions in Long Beach, California | Troop ships of the United Kingdom | 1934 ships | Museums in Long Beach, California | Haunted attractions | Paranormal placesHidden categories: Articles with trivia sections from February 2010 | All articles with trivia sections

Plot summary

Two migrant field workers in California during the Great Depressioneorge Milton, an intelligent and cynical man, and Lennie Small, an ironically-named man of large stature and immense strength but limited mental abilitiesome to a ranch near Soledad southeast of Salinas, California to “work up a stake.” They hope to one day attain their shared dream of settling down on their own piece of land. Lennie’s part of the dream, which he never tires of hearing George describe, is merely to tend to (and touch) soft rabbits on the farm. George protects Lennie at the beginning by telling him that if Lennie gets into trouble George won’t let him “tend them rabbits.” They are fleeing from their previous employment in Weed where they were run out of town after Lennie’s love of stroking soft things resulted in an accusation of attempted rape when he touched a young woman’s dress.

At the ranch, the dream appears to move closer to reality. Candy, the aged, one-handed ranch-hand, even offers to pitch in with Lennie and George so they can buy the farm by the end of the month. The dream crashes when Lennie accidentally kills the young and attractive wife of Curley, the ranch owner’s son, while trying to stroke her hair. A lynch mob led by Curley gathers. George, realizing he is doomed to a life of loneliness and despair like the rest of the migrant workers and wanting to spare Lennie a painful death at the hands of the vengeful and violent Curley, shoots Lennie in the back of the head before the mob can find him after George gives him one last retelling of their dream of owning their own land.

Characters

I was a bindlestiff myself for quite a spell. I worked in the same country that the story is laid in. The characters are composites to a certain extent. Lennie was a real person. He’s in an insane asylum in California right now. I worked alongside him for many weeks. He didn’t kill a girl. He killed a ranch foreman. Got sore because the boss had fired his pal and stuck a pitchfork right through his stomach. I hate to tell you how many times I saw him do it. We couldn’t stop him until it was too late.

ohn Steinbeck, interview by The New York Times, 1937

George Milton: A quick-witted man who is friends with Lennie. He looks after Lennie and dreams of a better life.

Lennie Small: A mentally disabled, but strong man who travels with George. He dreams of “living off the fatta’ the lan’” and being able to tend to rabbits.

Candy: A ranch worker (described as a “swamper”) who lost a hand in an accident and is near the end of his useful life on the ranch. He wishes to join Lennie and George in their “dream” of a homestead.

Candy’s dog: A blind dog who is described as “old” and “crippled”, and is killed by Carlson. The death of Candy’s dog foreshadows Lennie’s fate.

Curley: The boss’ son, a young, pugnacious character, once a semi-professional boxer. He is described by others, with some irony, as “handy”. He is very jealous and protective of his wife and immediately develops a dislike toward Lennie.

Curley’s wife: A young, pretty woman, who is mistrusted by her husband, Curley. The other characters refer to her only as “Curley’s wife,” which makes her the only significant character in the novel without a name. This lack of personal definition underscores this character’s purpose in the story: Steinbeck explained that she is “not a person, she’s a symbol. She has no function, except to be a foil and a danger to Lennie.”

Slim: A “jerkline skinner,” the main driver of a mule team. Slim is greatly respected by many of the characters and is the only character that Curley treats with respect.

Crooks: The only black ranch-hand. Like Candy, he is crippled. His nickname refers to a crooked back resulting from being kicked by a horse. He sleeps segregated from the other workers and is embittered from discrimination. He is frequently seen rubbing liniment into his spine.

Carlson: A “thick bodied” ranch-hand, he kills Candy’s dog with little sympathy.

Whit: A ranch-hand.

The Boss: Curley’s father, the superintendent of the ranch. The ranch is owned by “a big land company” according to Candy.

Aunt Clara: Lennie’s Aunt, only mentioned in references to the past.

Themes

In every bit of honest writing in the world there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other.

John Steinbeck in his 1938 journal entry

Steinbeck emphasizes dreams throughout the book. George aspires for independence, to be his own boss, to have a homestead, and most importantly to be “somebody”. Lennie aspires to be with George on his independent homestead, and to quench his fixation on soft objects. Candy aspires to reassert his responsibility lost with the death of his dog, and for security for his old age on George’s homestead. Crooks aspires to a small homestead where he can express self-respect, acceptance, and security. Curley’s wife dreams to be an actress, to satisfy her desire for fame lost when she married Curley.

Loneliness is a significant factor in several characters’ lives. Candy is lonely after his dog is gone. Curley’s wife is lonely because her husband is not the friend she hoped for – she deals with her loneliness by flirting with the men on the ranch, which causes Curley to increase his abusiveness and jealousy. The companionship of George and Lennie is the result of loneliness. Crooks states the theme candidly as “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you.” The author further reinforces this theme through subtle methods by situating the story near the town of Soledad, which means “solitude” in Spanish.

Despite the need for companionship, Steinbeck emphasizes how the nature of loneliness is sustained though the barriers established from acting inhuman to one another. The loneliness of Curley’s wife is upheld by Curley’s jealousy, which causes all the ranch hands to avoid her. Crooks’s barrier results from being barred from the bunkhouse by restraining him to the stable; his bitterness is partially broken, however, through Lennie’s ignorance.

Steinbeck’s characters are often powerless, due to intellectual, economic, and social circumstances. Lennie possesses the greatest physical strength of any character, which should therefore establish a sense of respect as he is employed as a ranch hand. However, his intellectual handicap undercuts this and results in his powerlessness. Economic powerlessness is established as many of the ranch hands are victims of society during the Great Depression. As George, Lennie, Candy, and Crooks wish to purchase a homestead, but they are unable to generate enough money.

Fate is felt most heavily as the characters’ aspirations are destroyed as George is unable to protect Lennie. Steinbeck presents this as “something that happened” or as his friend coined for him “non-teleological thinking” or “is thinking”, which postulates a non-judgmental point of view.

Development

Of Mice and Men was Steinbeck’s first attempt at writing in the form of novel-play termed a “play-novelette” by one critic. Structured in three acts of two chapters each, it is intended to be both a novella and a script for a play. He wanted to write a novel that could be played from its lines, or a play that could be read like a novel.

Steinbeck originally titled it Something That Happened, however, he changed the title after reading Robert Burns’s poem, To a Mouse. Burns’s poem tells of the regret the narrator feels for having destroyed the home of a mouse while plowing his field; it suggests that no plan is fool-proof and no one can be completely prepared for the future.[citation needed]

Steinbeck wrote this book, along with The Grapes of Wrath, in what is now Monte Sereno, California. An early draft of the novel was eaten by Steinbeck’s dog.

Reception

Attaining the greatest positive response of any of his works up to that time, Steinbeck’s novella was chosen as a Book of the Month Club selection before it was published. Praise for the work came from many notable critics, including Maxine Garrard (Enquirer-Sun), Christopher Morley, and Harry Thornton Moore (New Republic). New York Times critic Ralph Thompson described the novel as a “grand little book, for all its ultimate melodrama.”

The novella has been banned from various American public and school libraries or curricula for allegedly “promoting euthanasia”, being “anti-business”, containing profanity, racial slurs, and generally containing “vulgar” and “offensive language”. Many of the bans and restrictions have been lifted and it remains required reading in many other American, Australian, British, New Zealand and Canadian high schools. As a result of being a frequent target of censors, Of Mice and Men appears on the American Library Association’s list of the Most Challenged Books of 21st Century (number 4).

Adaptations

Cinema

Of Mice and Men was adapted to film several times, the first in 1939, only two years after the publication of the novel. This adaptation of Of Mice and Men stars Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie, Burgess Meredith as George, and was directed by Lewis Milestone. It was nominated for four Oscars. In 1981 it was made into a TV movie. This version stars Randy Quaid as Lennie, Robert Blake as George, Ted Neeley as Curley, and was directed by Reza Badiyi.

The most recent film version of Of Mice and Men (1992) was directed by Gary Sinise (who also played the part of George), who was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes. The role of George’s opposite, Lennie, was played by John Malkovich. For this adaptation, both men reprised their roles from a 1980 Steppenwolf Theatre Company production.

Theater

Stage adaptations have also been produced. The first production was produced by Sam H. Harris and directed by George S. Kaufman and opened on November 23, 1937, in the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. Running for 207 performances, it starred Wallace Ford as George and Broderick Crawford as Lennie. The role of Crooks was performed by Leigh Whipper, the first African-American member of the Actors’ Equity Association. Whipper repeated his role in the 1939 film version. It was chosen as Best Play in 1938 by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. In 1939 the production was moved to Los Angeles, still with Wallace Ford in the role of George, but with Lon Chaney, Jr., taking on the role of Lennie. Chaney’s performance in the role resulted in his casting in the movie.

The play was revived in a 1974 Broadway production in the Brooks Atkinson Theatre starring Kevin Conway as George and James Earl Jones as Lennie. Noted stage actress Pamela Blair played Curley’s Wife in this production.

In 1970 Carlisle Floyd wrote an opera based on this novel. One departure between Steinbeck’s book and Floyd’s opera is that the opera features The Ballad Singer, a character not found in the book.

Other references

Main article: Of Mice and Men in popular culture

Numerous works have referred to or parodied aspects of the book, perhaps most notably the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, which often had one character asking another, la, Lennie, “which way did he go, George; which way did he go?”,, or the abominable snowman, referring to Bugs Bunny, saying, “I will name him George, and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him.” The line “Tell me about the rabbits” has also been frequently parodied.

See also

East of Eden

John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men in popular culture

The Grapes of Wrath

To a Mouse

References

Notes

^ Mice, Men, and Mr. Steinbeck, The New York Times, 1937-12-05, p. 7 

^ a b c Parini, Jay (1992-09-27), FILM; Of Bindlestiffs, Bad Times, Mice and Men, The New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6DD1F3AF934A1575AC0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all, retrieved 2008-06-17 

^ a b Tracy Barr, Greg Tubach,, ed (2001) . Cliff Notes: On Steinbeck’s Of Mice and men. 909 Third Avenue, New York City, New York: Wiley Publishing. ISBN 0-7645-8676-9. 

^ Of Mice and Men, p. 71

^ Kirk, Susan Van (2001) . Tracy Barr, Greg Tubach,. ed. Cliff Notes: On Steinbeck’s Of Mice and men. 909 Third Avenue, New York City, New York: Wiley Publishing. ISBN 0-7645-8676-9. 

^ a b Dr. Susan Shillinglaw (2004-01-18). “John Steinbeck, American Writer”. The Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies. http://www.steinbeck.sjsu.edu/biography/briefbiography.jsp. Retrieved 2006-12-28. 

^ Robert McCrum (2004-01-18). “First drafts”. Guardian Unlimited. http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1125534,00.html. Retrieved 2006-12-27. 

^ “John Steinbeck – The Contemporary Reviews”

^ “John Steinbeck and His Novels – an appreciation by Harry Thornton Moore”

^ McElrath, Joseph R.; Jesse S. Crisler, Susan Shillinglaw (1996). John Steinbeck: The Contemporary Reviews. Cambridge University Press. pp. 7194. http://books.google.com/books?id=uFSfYMpUyokC&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=”mice+and+men”+”christopher+morley”&source=web&ots=BB4Zc4-J23&sig=BKm63HIQyb3DF9OTIXqET578ckw#PPA86,M1. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ CliffNotes: Of Mice and Men : About the Author. Wiley Publishing, Inc.. 2000-2007. pp. 7194. http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/Of-Mice-and-Men.id-101,pageNum-2.html. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ “Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century”. American Library Association. 2007. http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bbwlinks&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=136590. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ “American Library Association list of the Most Challenged Books of 21st Century”. American Library Association. 2007. http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2006/september2006/harrypottermostchallenge.cfm. Retrieved 2009-08-25. 

^ a b c “Of Mice and Men (1939)”. Internet Movie Database Inc.. 1990-2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031742/. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ “Of Mice and Men (1981)”. Internet Movie Database Inc.. 1990-2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082838/. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ “Of Mice and Men (1992)”. Internet Movie Database Inc.. 1990-2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105046/. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ “Of Mice and Men (1992)”. Rotten Tomatoes / IGN Entertainment, Inc.. 1998-2007. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1040322-of_mice_and_men/. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ a b “Internet Broadway Database: Of Mice and Men”. The League of American Theatres and Producers. 2001-2007. http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=12320. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ “Internet Broadway Database: Leigh Whipper”. 2001-2007. http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=7209. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ “National Steinbeck Center: About John Steinbeck : Facts, Awards, & Honors”. National Steinbeck Center. http://www.steinbeck.org/. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ “Internet Broadway Database: Of Mice and Men (1974)”. The League of American Theatres and Producers. 2001-2007. http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3709. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

^ “NY Times Review of 1983 City Opera production”. www.nytimes.com, October 14, 1983. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/14/arts/opera-mice-and-men.html?&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2009-07-17. 

^ Interview with artist “Joe” on Pixar.com. Accessed June 17, 2008.

Bibliography

“Of Mice and Men Factsheet”. English Resources. 2002. http://www.newi.ac.uk/englishresources/workunits/ks4/fiction/ofmicemen/llshort/factsheet.html. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 

External links

Photos of the first edition of Of Mice and Men

Book Summary of Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men study guide

v  d  e

Works by John Steinbeck

Novels

Cup of Gold  The Red Pony  To a God Unknown  Tortilla Flat  In Dubious Battle  Of Mice and Men  The Grapes of Wrath  The Moon Is Down  Cannery Row  The Pearl  The Wayward Bus  Burning Bright  East of Eden  Sweet Thursday  The Short Reign of Pippin IV  The Winter of Our Discontent  The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

Non-fiction

The Log from the Sea of Cortez  Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team  A Russian Journal  Once There Wa a War  Travels with Charley  Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters  America and Americans

Short story collections

The Pastures of Heaven  The Long Valley

Categories: 1937 novels | California in fiction | Great Depression fiction | Novels by John Steinbeck | Novellas | Novels adapted into filmsHidden categories: Wikipedia semi-protected pages | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from September 2007

After recently reading a New York Times article, we started thinking about home solar panel politics.  You see, although solar power is gaining popularity as a renewable energy solution for home, it will never become mainstream without the backing from the federal government.

A poll by the Nuclear Power Industry revealed that the number one choice for generating power was not from nuclear, coal or natural gas, but from solar energy. However, at the time the poll was taken solar only provided for about 0.01 percent of America’s power supply. Solar power is popular, but there’s not enough investment!

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We know government regulation is not very popular in America, where many of us believe our capitalists markets should be left alone.  But according to Vinod Khosla, a partner at one of the world’s biggest venture capitalist firms – VC Firm and major investor in green technologies:

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