R. M. S. Queen Mary

Royal Visitors

2013-05-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

ROYAL FAMILY.

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Visit to Liner Queen Mary.

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KING FLIES TO SOUTHAMPTON.

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LONDON, May 25.

The King left Fort Belvedere by air for Southampton for the Royal Family's inspection of the liner the Queen Mary. Queen Mary, the Duke and Duchess of York, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Princess Elizabeth travelled by train.

Conducted by Captain Sir Edgar Britten, the commander of the liner, the King, Queen Mary, and the Royal party extensively toured the liner. The Queen devoted special attention to the kitchens, while Princess Elizabeth enjoyed the delights of the children's playroom, where she delightedly slid the chute. Later the King and his brothers inspected the engines, all of which were in motion. The visitors expressed their amazement at the lack of vibration.

- The Sydney Morning Herald

Passenger from Down Under

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QUEEN MARY'S MAIDEN VOYAGE

Australian Passenger

SYDNEY. Saturday.--Only one Australian--a Melbourne man--will be a passenger on the Queen Mary when she sets out from Southampton on Wednesday on her maiden voyage.

For later trips the chairman of the Commonwealth Bank Board (Sir Claude Reading) and Mr. Stuart F. Doyle have booked passages.

The Melbourne man applied direct to London more than a year ago. Bookings for the maiden voyage were complete two years ago, and the berths booked since then have followed cancellations.

No Australians have been allotted cabins on the return maiden voyage on June 5, but there will be a few in the tourist class.

- The Mail, Adelaide, SA

2013-05-21T13:41:00.001-07:00

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Queen Mary Tramps Over Warship

2013-05-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

HMS Curacoa

CRUISER HIT BY BIG LINER

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Ten Men Survive From Warship

LONDON, Friday: One of the worst naval disasters of the war occurred in October, 1942, when the 81,000-ton liner Queen Mary collided with the 8700-ton cruiser Curacoa. The Queen Mary cut the cruiser in two with only 10 survivors, 335 officers and ratings being lost.

The disaster happened at night time. The Queen Mary suffered only slight damage and no casualties.

Solicitors acting for the Admiralty have applied to the High Court to hear claims on behalf of the dependents against the Cunard Line, amounting to £75,000. The hearing has been set down for next month. It is likely to continue for several months with witnesses coming from all parts of the world.

The Daily Telegraph says that the Queen Mary, escorted by two cruisers, was travelling all out for the Clyde with 15,000 American troops aboard when the look-out man raised a U-boat alarm. The Queen Mary immediately wheeled to the starboard and the Curacoa simultaneously raced towards the U-boat. The liner travelling at 30 knots crashed full into the cruiser.

Nothing could withstand such a shock. Eye-witnesses said the Queen Mary simply "tramped over the warship."

The liner couldn't stop to pick up survivors but raced on at full speed. There were dents in her bows when she arrived in the Clyde, and it was obvious there had been a serious mishap, but the full story was not known until survivors of the Curacoa were picked up. The regular sailings of the Queen Mary were not interfered with and a new bow was fitted on her return to New York.

- Goulburn Evening Post, New South Wales, May 18, 1945

Timber

2013-05-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Empire Timbers Used in Queen Mary

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Interior decorations in the Queen Mary are strikingly modern and Australian timbers are conspicuous in many of the liner's principal rooms, according to Mr. J. S. Hall, a young Adelaide architect, who returned this week after 18 months abroad. Mr. Hall was one of the special staff commissioned by Mewes and Davis, a firm of London architects, to design the interiors for the giant Cunarder.

Extreme simplicity was the keynote of our work, he said yesterday. Period and classical arrangements were completely discarded. A new trend which was carried out in the Orient liner Orion, Timber had replaced fibrous plaster in the ceilings and painted and lacquered ply-woods predominated. For decorative effects reliance was placed on the grain of the timbers and the shadows cast by the diffused lighting systems. Empire timbers were exclusively used. The use of timber would certainly prove less costly than the glass panels featured in the French liner Normandie, which had frequently splintered and cracked as a result of the vessel's vibration.

- The Advertiser, Adelaide, SA, May 5, 1936

Could Have Been Worse

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Sydney Nylon Smuggler Fined £303

London, February 26. Frank Henry Rogers, of Sydney, who was a steward aboard the Queen Mary, was fined £303 today for smuggling 72 pairs of nylon stockings from New York ashore at Southampton. Two other members of the crew associated with him were fined £303 each.

- The Advertiser, Adelaide, South Australia, February 27, 1946

The Silliness Strategy

2013-02-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Men Protest 'Overcrowding' On Queen Mary

NEW YORK, Feb. 16--(AP)--The British liner Queen Mary, carrying 1,779 passengers, including 1,310 military personnel, sailed for Southampton, England, early today, after a five-day delay caused by the tugboat strike.

More than 1,000,000 gallons of fuel oil was pumped aboard the liner yesterday. The tugboat walkout, which was called out Wednesday night pending arbitration, had prevented refueling.

Included among her passengers were 700 British naval ranks who walked off the ship for two hours last night in protest against "overcrowding." They returned to the vessel at midnight when naval officers assured them they would received better accommodations if they "stopped being silly."

- Ottawa Citizen, February 16, 1946

Flashback

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"FORGOTTEN MEN" OF 8th DIVISION

By Gilbert Mant, Former Soldier of the 8th Division.

On the afternoon of February 14, 1941, the Queen Mary began her stately passage down Sydney Harbour towards the Heads. Her decks and rigging were crammed with troops. There were thousands of them from nearly every State in the Commonwealth. They were the cream of the 8th Division.

It was a brave farewell with flags flying and bands playing. Now the Queen Mary was swaying as she met the ocean swell. The cheering had died down. The men of the 8th Division, even then unaware of their destination, stood at the rails gazing back. For all they knew, it might be their last glimpse of Australia, and they wanted to photograph it on their minds.

That was how the 8th Division sailed away more than three years ago. A brave farewell, with flags flying and bands playing for a brave company of Australians. Only a handful of those men have made that passage back through Sydney Heads; for the rest, their journey ended on February 16, 1942, when Singapore formally surrendered to the Japanese.

The 8th Division were fated to spend nearly a year of frustration in Malaya before they went into action. When the novelty of new scenes and new faces had worn off, they found the East neither mysterious nor glamorous.

It was in this savagely unhappy mood that the 8th Division--23,258 men--found themselves in December, 1941, when the Japanese struck at the northern tip of Malaya...seldom have troops welcomed hostilities as passionately as these men did.

- The Mercury, Hobart, Tasmania, February 14, 1944

Hey, Ladies

2013-02-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Queen Mary Reaches New York

NEW YORK, Monday.--The Queen Mary arrived from Southampton yesterday with 2334 wives of American servicemen. Eleven U.S. Army tugs guided the vessel to the pier through heavy ice floes.

- The Advocate, Burnie, Tasmania, February 12, 1946

Shine A Light

2013-02-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

Warning Beam for the "Queen Mary"

A new safety measure for the "Queen Mary" is being experimented with in Messrs. John Brown's shipyard at Clydebank, and if the tests are successful the liner will have a powerful light beam connected with the ship's wireless system which will form an arc extending for four miles in the direction the "Queen Mary" is steaming. Any obstacle, such as an iceberg or wreck, will break this beam, and an officer in the charthouse will receive a warning flash. The liner's course can then be immediately changed.

In the "Queen Mary" is a miniature broadcasting house equipped with transmitting and receiving apparatus unequalled in any ship afloat. Incidents in the liner on her first voyage will be broadcast to stations in England and America, and relayed to millions of listeners.

- The Daily News, Perth, Western Australia, February 10, 1936

Coo-ees and Whistles

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THE LINER SHE'S A LADY -- EVEN AS A TROOPSHIP

From a "Mail" Correspondent

Disclosure recently that the Queen Mary was troop-carrying from Australia early in the war was not news to most people. When she first steamed into an eastern port hundreds of thousands of sightseers flocked to see her.

To the A. I. F. men who were transported over, the Middle East run changing conditions on "the Mary" reflected the mounting tempo of Britain's prosecution of the war.

The world's third largest liner hastily impressed into troop-carrying duty, at first carried only a few thousand men; nowadays, with every square foot of cabin and deck space utilised, up to 14,000 soldiers have been accommodated.

This metamorphosis from the last word in luxury, when three or four soldiers were quartered in lavishly appointed cabin suites, to a great ship converted by expert hands to handle more than a division of fighting men, has taken time. On each trip, changes were noticed.

Instead of the two or three sittings at each meal, a new system was devised so that troops could eat and sleep in shifts.

In the last three years, what has happened to "the Mary" has taken place on many of Britain's ships, which, although externally the same, are internally vastly different.

There was only one drawback to being carried by this great vessel. Because of bulk and tremendous draught, "the Mary" was forced to drop anchor out in the roadsteads at various ports. Her soldier passengers were then forced to watch with chagrin men from smaller transports eagerly thronging ashore in strange places for a day's leave.

One special occasion thousands of Diggers and Kiwis will remember vividly--some with misgiving. The convoy was steaming quietly through tropical waters when suddenly, after signal pennants had been run up, the ships began changing formation with precise movements.

At the end of the evolutions, the disposition had so altered that Queen Mary was at the end of the line. Then her stem began slicing deeper into the sea, and the bow wave grew in size until two huge cascades of water were being thrown away each side.

With every deck and vantage point of every vessel a cluster of men, "the Mary" swept down past the convoy at 30 knots. As she went, thunders of cheers were given and returned. Coo-ees and whistles grew fainter and less persistent as she sped into the distance--with the first troops to be taken to Malaya.

- The Mail, Adelaide, S.A., January 29, 1944

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THE QUEEN MARY

MAIDEN VOYAGE BROADCASTS

When the Queen Mary ploughs her majestic way across the Atlantic on her maiden voyage next May, the ship herself will "tell" the story of the trip.

The B. B. C. have made elaborate arrangements for broadcasts from the vessel from the moment she sails from Southampton until she greets New York for the first time.

We will hear the excited voices of the passengers on the dock at Southampton, the loading of the luggage, the sirens of other vessels in farewell salutation.

Then during the voyage we will be able to listen to a detailed description picture of day-by-day life on board.

And last of all, across three thousand miles of ocean, will come the sounds of the welcoming cheers from New York.

Mr. R. H. Eckersley, Assistant Controller of Programmes, will supervise all the broadcasts, Mr. John Snagge and Mr. R. H. Wood will be in charge of the technical side, and Mr. John Watt will produce. They, with about six assistants, will sail in the ship.

The departure from Southampton will be described in commentaries from ship to shore.

On each night of the voyage a "flash" from the ship will be included in the news bulletins. The biggest broadcast of all is planned for the second night out. It will last for three-quarters of an hour and will take the form of a tour of the ship. Forty points of the ship are being wired for microphones.

It is in this broadcast that the B. B. C. intend to make the Queen Mary speak for herself. From the bridge we will hear the voice of the commander, grey-haired Captain Sir Edgar Britten, as he gives his orders. Then the clang of the telegraph taking the message down to the engine-room.

And then...the throb of the giant engines...the chatter and laughter from the dining-rooms...the dance bands on the sun deck and in the ballroom...the quiet tones of the men in the crow's nest...the surge of the Atlantic.

- The Longreach Leader, Queensland, January 25, 1936

Sneak Peek

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I'm told that, for the first time ever, a film is to have its world premiere in mid-Atlantic. The Queen Mary is to show "The Adventuress" aboard on January 31. A week later the picture will also be shown on the Queen Elizabeth.

- From the "London Calling" column by Trevor Williams in The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria, January 23, 1951

A Way of Life Worth Preserving

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Letter From Britain

By Charles King

LONDON

The Queen of the seas as a £45-a-week floating holiday camp? It seems a startling idea at first glance. But that is one of the plans under consideration for the giant Cunarder Queen Mary, one of the most beautiful ships afloat and holder of the Atlantic Blue Ribbon in her early years of New York-Southampton service.

She is twenty-six years old, a delicate age for a maritime lady, and her owners are giving her only another five years of profitable life in her trans-Atlantic role.

Then the choice for the 81,000-ton beauty is the scrap heap--or what offers?

Cunard chairman Sir John Brocklebank has his own ideas about her future, and they don't include the wreckers' torches.

"I hate the thought of selling the Mary for scrap," he confessed in an emotional moment. "She is more than a ship--she is a way of life that is worth preserving."

His own plan--still to be worked out in detail--is to sink her, in forty feet of warm Caribbean water, as a permanent, wave-lapped luxury hotel, connected to some island home by a giant flood-lit causeway.

"There are many practical difficulties, but engineers assure me that these can be overcome. I should not change the outline of the liner one bit. I should like to preserve the masts, crow's nests and funnels."

He added: "This is not simply a sentimental idea for turning the Queen Mary into a monument. The commercial possibilities also appeal to me. One of the public rooms could be turned into a top-class casino."

The brightly-painted mistress of the seas would bring a little over $3,000,000 as scrap -- "and where would you get a magnificent hotel accommodating 2,000 people for that price?"

Other ideas are being kicked around by the Cunard management, who must make up their minds on the Queen's replacement within the next 12 months.

One is the plan of British travel entrepreneur Max Wilson to charter her on a five-year contract for cheap tropical cruises, similar to those he plans for the CPR Empress of Britain.

But Cunard, unlike the CPR management, is dubious.

It has provided him with facts and figures about her operation, and of Cunarders in Canadian service as well. "Some pretty insuperable difficulties" stand in the way of the deal.

One is that the Mary, built for fast Atlantic crossings (her record is between four and five days), cannot go for more than six days without fresh water supplies. Therefore the proposal to use her for voyages to Japan is "pretty fanciful."

British holiday camp king Billy Butlin has put still another idea forward--and has backed his proposal with hard cash: $3,000,000.

It's for the outright purchase of the lady for conversion into a floating holiday camp off England's south coast.

"I don't think the old liner should go abroad," said Mr. Butlin of Sir John's Caribbean plan. He thinks Devon would be a better place for her.

But again, Cunard is undecided. "As the Queen Mary has at least another five years in service there is plenty of time to consider any offers," said a company spokesman.

What concerns the famous shipping firm more at this point is the necessity of early decisions on her successor.

The scheme under study is to build a new ship of about 55,000 tons--two-thirds the size of the aging lady--at a cost of about $60,000,000. She would have a speed of thirty knots, with aluminium superstructure to keep her weight down. Space would be provided for 1,850 passengers.

"We must hasten slowly," cautions Sir John, "because we are building not for five or ten years ahead, but fifteen or twenty.

"We believe there is a future on the North Atlantic for a superliner class of ship, providing she combines a high carrying capacity in the summer season to reap the density of traffic offering, with flexibility to operate profitably as a cruising ship in her own right during the winter months."

This, at the Queen Mary's age, is more than the operators can hope to expect of her.

- Edmonton Journal, January 17, 1963

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A First Class Mistake

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QUEEN MARY RATED AS "CABIN SHIP"

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LONDON, January 14.--A fantastic situation exists in North Atlantic shipping. The Queen Mary, which will make her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in May, is classed in the Atlantic Conference for rating purposes, not as a first-class vessel, but as a cabin ship. This means that the liner, which, judged by standards of size, types of accommodation and speed, may be regarded as the first ship in the British mercantile marine, [which] is ranked technically as something less than the best. The Aquitania remains a first-class vessel. The Cunard-White Star Line has given notice of its resignation from the conference. It is expected that the outcome will be the reclassification of the ships of the Atlantic.

- The Barrier Miner, Broken Hills, New South Wales, January 15, 1936

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Timing the Tides

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THE QUEEN MARY

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VOYAGE TO THE SEA

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Two Tides to be Used

Engineers in charge of the Queen Mary have prepared sectional plans of the bed of the River Clyde to facilitate the navigation of the great liner on her 15-mile journey from the fitting-out basin at Clydebank to the Firth of Clyde.

Two tides will be used. Between them she will lie at an old Admiralty wharf at Old Kilpatrick, which is to be extensively reconditioned for the purpose.

It is expected that the voyage will take five hours. On the assumption that high tide will be at 7 a.m. on the morning of the liner's departure--provisionally fixed at March 23, when the tides will be higher, the following rough schedule has been drawn up:--

5 a.m.--Ship afloat in fitting-out basin, ready for canting.

6 a.m.--Canting completed, the four attendant tugs will begin to tow the liner
downstream.

8 a.m.--After negotiating Old Kilpatrick bend--one of the most difficult manoeuvres of the voyage--the liner will close into the Old Admiralty Wharf to await the next tide at 7.15 p.m.

5.15.--The lines will move again.

6.30 p.m.--Passing Dumbarton: progress will be slowed to negotiate moving sand banks caused by the outward flow of the Riven Leven.

8 p.m.--The last obstacle--Cockle Bank at Port Glasgow--will be negotiated.

At the Old Kilpatrick bend it is estimated that there will be only about 10ft. clearance between the river bank and the blades of the liner's propellers. The liner will be flooded for the journey to draw about 44ft. aft and 40ft. forward.

To make her as light as possible all her lifeboats save two will be towed down to the tail of the bank and swung aboard there. Pilots Cameron and Murchie, who supervised the canting of the vessel into her fitting-out basin immediately after her launch, and who will be in charge of the operation, are confident that the river will be navigated without mishap.

The Cunard-White Star Company have placed an order with the Vacuum Oil Company, Ltd., for the whole of the lubricating oil requirements for the main propelling machinery. The first delivery, of over 20,000 gallons, was made on December 23.

Captain Sir Edgar Britten, Commodore of the Cunard White Star fleet and now in command of the Berengaria, has been appointed to the command of the Queen Mary, which is scheduled to make her maiden voyage to New York from Southampton and Cherbourg May 27.

Sixty-one years of age, Sir Edgar Britten was appointed commodore of the fleet last year. He first went to sea in 1892, in a sailing ship, and is one of the few captains who has taken a master's certificate both for sail and steam.

He joined the Cunard Company as fourth officer in the Invernia in 1901, and in 1913 secured his first command.

Throughout the war Sir Edgar Britten was engaged in transport and hospital ship work. During these years he acted as staff captain of the Aquitania, and commanded, among other ships, the Lycia, the Tuscania, the Pannonia, and the Kursk.

- The Sunday Times, Perth, Western Australia, January 12, 1936

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Mais, Non!

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photo credit: cherbourg-titanic.com

Cause of Queen Mary Grounding

LONDON, Jan. 5. (A.A.P.) Divers, to ease the water pressure, put tallow round the rivets loosened in the Queen Mary. Cunard White Star Company officials said they were convinced that the grounding of the Queen Mary at Cherbourg was due to the liner catching an underwater cable in her anchor as she prepared to leave. While efforts were being made to clear the cable a gust of wind drove the liner aground.

A French naval spokesman denied that the anti-submarine cable could have caused the vessel's grounding. He said there was no anti-submarine cable in the port, which was perfectly clean.

- The Age, Melbourne, Australia, January 6, 1949

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8,800 Men and Three Babies

2013-01-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

82nd Airborne Returns In Triumph To America Aboard Queen Mary

New York, Jan. 3, UPI--The battle-wise "All-American" 82nd Airborne Division returned home in triumph today aboard the Queen Mary ready to march up Fifth Avenue Jan. 12 in the greatest victory parade of the war.

Also aboard the British superliner was a set of seven-month-old triplets and their war-bride mother, Mrs. Robert H. Glass, an American Red Cross worker.

The babies, in bassinettes, were carried down the gangplank by three GI's. The high-spirited 82nd "adopted" the children during the crossing, collecting an estimated $3,000 as an educational fund for them.

Carrying rifles and helmets, the 8,800 smartly-uniformed members of the renowned airborne division will fulfill a "battlefield dream" when they parade up Fifth Avenue, their commanding general said.

"We'd say: 'when we get back we'll parade right up Fifth Avenue," reminisced the officer, six-foot Maj. Gen. James M. Gavin. "We've walked all over this damned world and we're going to walk all the way."

The Queen Mary was at the head of a fleet of 11 troopships bringing to New York a total of 30,837 servicemen.

The Queen was met by Gavin who flew home in advance of his men, and New York City's new mayor, William O'Dwyer, who stood bareheaded in the chilling wind and shouted over a loudspeaker to the troops:

"New York is just waiting to tear you apart!"

First to debark were members of the 82nd's honor company, the Anti-Tank Company of the 325th Glider Infantry. Smartly equipped with white gloves, pistol belts, bayonet scabbards and boot-laces, the company was reviewed by the mayor and Gavin.

Only about 700 or 800 men were originally with the 82nd. The remainder being replacements. The division suffered 13,000 casualties in action in Sicily, Italy, France and The Netherlands. Three thousand were killed.

- The Meriden Record, Meriden, CT, January 4, 1946

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Churchill's Favorite Office

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Queen Mary Heads Into Bad Weather

Churchill Works In Cabin on Memoirs

Aboard the Queen Mary, Jan. 2 (U.P.) --This giant ocean liner taking Prime Minister Churchill to see President-elect Eisenhower ran toward heavy weather in mid-Atlantic today.

Though the seas calmed a bit today storms are expected ahead and guide ropes were strung on decks and in lounges to help passengers keep their feet.

A number of people are seasick already--but sturdy 78-year-old Churchill took it in his stride.

This morning he breakfasted on a grilled Dover sole, then worked in his cabin on the last volume of his memoirs, dictating to a relay of secretaries. At noon a barber went to his suite to trim his white hair.

He interrupted his work to go to the bridge to chat with the Queen Mary's master, Capt. Ivor Thompson.

The liner was plowing steadily westward at 27 knots today. If she keeps her schedule in the heavy weather ahead, she will dock in New York Monday.

Churchill is expected to see Eisenhower Tuesday.

Churchill had welcomed the New Year with a pledge of closer British-American ties. He joined in the New Year's Eve festivities, but lost no time getting back to work.

- Reading Eagle, Reading, PA, January 2, 1953

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Nicked

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Canadians Lose Clothes

Southampton, England, Jan. 1 -- (Reuters) -- Detectives boarded the liner Queen Mary when she docked here from New York today to investigate the loss of five fur-lined mackintoshes belonging to members of the Canadian skiing team, who are on their way to Switzerland. The Mackintoshes were missed during the voyage but they possibly were stolen before the Queen Mary left New York.

- The Montreal Gazette, January 2, 1948

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Practically Fireproof

2012-12-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

ANTI-FIRE GAS

Gas is to be used for fire-fighting in the Cunard White Star liner Queen Mary, now fitting out at Clydebank. Equipment will be installed which will admit freezing blasts, rendering the atmosphere so cold that the fiercest flames will be quelled instantly. Weighing 200cwt. each, 300 gas-filled cylinders will be shipped, and the apparatus will be used in conjunction with the ordinary fire-fighting equipment. There will be two main fire stations. By flicking a lever when an automatic alarm sounds, the fire-freezing gas will sweep into the affected spaces, forming clouds which will isolate and prevent fire from spreading. The gas, which will make the giant liner practically fireproof, is harmless says the "Sunday Times", and will be conveyed through a pipe system leading into the remotest corners of the ship.

- The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria, December 28, 1935

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I'll Be Home for Christmas

2012-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

LINERS EXCHANGE GREETINGS

LONDON, Tuesday,--Britain's largest liners, the Queen Elizabeth, taking 12,000 Canadian troops home, and the Queen Mary, exchanged Christmas greetings by lamps as they passed each other off Bishop's Rock, Land's End. Passengers crammed the rails, cheering. Floodlights illuminated the funnels as the sister ships turned on all available lighting.

The Queen Mary shortly afterwards docked in Southampton with 1500 passengers, including 200 former prisoners of war from the Pacific, who arrived home just in time for Christmas.

- Advocate, Burnie, Tas., December 26, 1945

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Laid Up for Winter

2012-12-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

LINER QUEEN MARY

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Extensive Internal Alterations.

LONDON, Dec. 22.--The giant liner Queen Mary, arriving 13 hours late at Southampton owing to heavy weather, has completed her first season, in which she carried 41,000 passengers and made 14 round voyages. She will now be dry-docked for an examination of the underwater portion of her hull, after which she will be laid up for the winter.

Extensive internal alterations will then be made to the ship, notably additional stanchions where vibration was noticeable, improvements to the crew's quarters and the provision of new accommodation for the engineers.

- The West Australian, Perth, WA, December 24, 1936

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FYI

2012-12-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Fares paid in each voyage in the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth by passengers total more than £25,000. At 40 voyages per year an income of £10,000,000 per annum is assured for each from passengers alone. Crew's wages for the year amount to £4,160,000.

- The Worker, Brisbane, Qld., December 20, 1948

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Just Wait

2012-12-19T13:57:00.001-08:00

Challenge to Liners

In a radio talk from Berlin a German speaker invited the owners of the liners Queen Mary and the Normandie to send them to sea to prove whether the German Navy is powerless and whether Britain has full command of the seas.

This picturesque challenge is unlikely to be accepted. Convoys continue to cross the Atlantic in safety, but the two liners are hardly suitable for such work. Built as luxury liners to carry the maximum number of passengers, their cargo space is small. There are no large expeditionary forces of Canadian or American troops to be ferried over as in the last war, and there seems to be no point in risking these valuable ships to a U-boat attack.

They are safer in New York berths than they would be if laid up at Liverpool or Cherbourg.

- The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Qld., December 19, 1939