Paquete QUEEN MARY de 1936

Imagens do primeiro dos famosos QUEENS da companhia Cunard, o QUEEN MARY que navegou ao serviço de Inglaterra de 1936 a 1967 e se encontra desde Dezembro de 1967 na cidade de Long Beach, 

Califórnia, da qual se tornou um dos principais ícones, dizendo-se que foi o QUEEN MARY que colocou Long Beach nos mapas mundiais, e tal afirmação não foge muito à verdade. 

Com cerca de 300 metros de comprimento e 80 000 toneladas de arqueação bruta, o QUEEN MARY hoje seria um navio de dimensões médias, mas durante a sua existência activa manteve-se sempre no grupo restrito dos gigantes do Atlântico Norte. Na década de 1930 foi o rival do não menos famoso NORMANDIE, a quem conquistou a Flâmula Azul, distintivo atribuído ao navio mas rápido na carreira da América do Norte.

Tive a sorte de ver o QUEEN MARY, e o seu irmão mais moderno QUEEN ELIZBETH em Lisboa na década de 1960. Fundeavam frente o Terreiro do Paço, não havia cais para atracar navios com calados tão elevados. Foi o único navio de três chaminés convencionais que conheci. E está na altura de o voltara  ver, tenho de ir à Califórnia qualquer dia...

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia 

The old QUEEN MARY

I first stayed aboard the Queen Mary in August 1978. It was fascinating to see the then 42-yr old ship restored and operating. I often hear recollections of the great Cunarder such as these from Mary Hyde. 

I remember going to New York for the first time in 1955. I was aboard theQueen Mary. It was the first sailing after a long strike. The ship was off schedule. There were only 600 passengers onboard [out of a possible 2,000]. We had amazing service. My grandparents had been lost on theTitanic and so that voyage on the Queen Mary was a kind of very special connection for me to them. I remember members of the British Fencing Team were allowed to use the cabin class pool even if they were in tourist class, and watching well-dressed passengers dancing in the lounge even as the ship plowed through a gale. I also won $15 at bingo and then used the money to make a ship-to-shore phone call to my parents back home in England. That was a very great treat!"

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright Bill Miller. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

On board four Cunard QUEENs

I caught the Queen Mary 2 inbound at San Francisco, Jan 2007. But a recollection of those great Cunarders: Living quite near Southampton, the great British seaport, Philippe Spanner wanted to go to sea, to see the world. So he joined the Cunard Line in 1966 as a 17-yr old. 

"It seemed a way to see the world, but on a bargain. I started on the grand old Queen Mary as a bellboy. I had a special uniform and even wore white gloves. In those days, family & friends were allowed to come aboard and see off the passengers. I delivered Champagne, canapes, even bon voyage telegrams. The ship itself was magnificent, a world of wood panelling and beautiful carpets and fine furnishings. My dream had come true --- I enjoyed it all from the start. Later, I was moved to the Queen Elizabeth, where I became an elevator boy and then a commie waiter. A commie waiter is an assistant in the dining room and where you do all the running around. It was still all very grand, and the rich and famous were still there. And there were some great tips. I lived in a 4-berth cabin in the crew quarters. Next, I was transferred to the Franconia, which was on the continuous 6-day New York-Bermuda run. She was actually my favorite Cunarder, but because of her weekly trips to Bermuda. I loved diving and Bermuda was perfect for that. We'd have overnight stays in New York and, on Friday nights, I used to go to the British Seamen's Club on West 48th Street to watch a movie & have a drink."

Philippe was selected in the spring of 1969 to join the brand new QE2. "By then, I was working in the kitchen and as a full waiter. Captain Warwick was in command. She was absolutely and totally different than the other, earlier Cunarders. She was light years away from the original Queens. The crew loved her, however. But all of them felt she'd never last --- that she was too plastic and the not the quality of the old Queens. During a New York layover, just before the ship's first Christmas cruise, there was a dinner for the crew. The officers helped serve and Captain Warwick served me my Christmas dinner. I also remember that Count Basie and Tony Bennett came on as entertainers on that first Christmas cruise down to the Caribbean. I stayed with the QE2 for a year-and-a-half, but then met a nice young girl and felt it was time to say goodbye to the sea. I was very, very fortunate to have had those times with Cunard, sailing on the liners. Recently, I returned --- crossing on theQueen Mary 2. I really am lucky --- in my life, I've sailed on the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth 2 & Queen Mary 2!"

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright Bill Miller. Favor não piratear. Respeite o nosso trabalho / No piracy, please. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

QUEEN MARY post card

Another post card of the first Cunard QUEEN, the QUEEN MARY of 1936. After a proud career of 31 years that included war service, liner crossings and also several cruises, QUEEN MARY has been homeported in Long Beach, California since December 1967.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

O FIM DOS ANTIGOS QUEENS

A passagem por Lisboa do QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 a caminho do Dubai anunciada para Novembro de 2008 faz-nos recordar os processos por que passaram os antigos QUEENS quando a Cunard decidiu desfazer-se dos navios em 1967 e 1968.

O QUEEN MARY de 1936 foi vendido à cidade de Long Beach e passou por Lisboa no cruzeiro de despedida, em Outubro de 1967, à semelhança do que vai acontecer com o navio que o substituiu em 1969: o QE2. Acrescente-se que esta viagem se fez via Cabo Horn ao longo das costas da América do Sul, por o QUEEN MARY não poder atravessar o Canal do Panamá.

O facto de o navio não ter ar condicionado e ser um paquete fechado destinado aos rigores do Atlântico Norte tornou a viagem muito desconfortável, pois com as temperaturas elevadas dos trópicos, os passageiros do QUEEN MARY acabaram por ter de dormir nos tombadilhos em cadeiras...

O QUEEN MARY chegou a Long Beach em Dezembro de 1967 onde foi entregue ao município local, que preservou o navio, o qual entretanto se tornou num ícone daquela cidade satélite de Los Angeles.

Menos sorte teve o QUEEN ELIZABETH de 1940. Vendido em 1968 a uns empresários da Florida que acabaram por se mostrar indignos e incapazes de assegurar a preservação do navio em Port Everglades, para onde seguiu vazio em Dezembro de 1968, foi revendido em 1970 ao armador C.Y. Tung, de Hong Kong, que o pretendia transformar numa universidade flutuante com o nome SEAWISE UNIVERSITY, mas dias antes de iniciar a viagem inaugural, o antigo QUEEN ELIZABETH ardeu em Hong Kong e perdeu-se por fogo de origem criminosa.

Legendas das fotografias:

Porto de Port Everglades numa imagem de 1969 em que se vê , além do QUEEN, os paquetes CARMANIA e FRANCONIA, ambos da Cunard, o SANTA MARIA da Companhia Colonial de Navegação, e o seu rival italiano FEDERICO C, também utilizado na carreira Europa - América Central, o EUROPA ex-KUNGSHOLM de 1953 e o ARIADNE ex-PATRICIA.

SEAWISE UNIVERSITY ex-QUEEN ELIZABETH fotografado em Cape Town por Ian Shiffman na viagem de entrega do navio de Port Everglades para Hong Kong.

QUEEN MARY fotografado em Long Beach, onde está preservado como hotel e museu.

Text copyright L.M.Correia, images from the LMC collection. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Thanks for your visit and comments. You are most welcome at any time - Luís Miguel Correia