Queen Mary

[j.sabourn]

Maybe it was an Irish scoop and I didn’t have my hearing aids in , so maybe an Irish ice cream ship. You know stop me and buy one. The person who told me as said was an Irishman who was at loggerheads with the other Irishman. Was really bitter and twisted they went on.No When Irish eyes are smiling sort of thing. As said one meets funny people at sea . Cheers off to bed now JS

[j.sabourn]

21. I used to get mail from the younger of the two for some time after. On the back of the envelope used to be stamped “ remember Long Kesh”. JS

[vic mcclymont]

The City of Long Beach have taken over the lease of the iconic vessel and will spend initially $500,000 on survey work with a further$5m at a later date.
Info from lbpost.com
Vic

[happy daze john in oz]

Maybe it was an Irish scoop and I didn’t have my hearing aids in , so maybe an Irish ice cream ship. You know stop me and buy one. The person who told me as said was an Irishman who was at loggerheads with the other Irishman. Was really bitter and twisted they went on.No When Irish eyes are smiling sort of thing. As said one meets funny people at sea . Cheers off to bed now JS

There was a guy who sold the evening paper outside the London underground, he also sold other things saying, 'buy me and stop one'.

[Robert Weeks]

The Queen Mary tends to divide Merchant seamen. Many feel that it is not seemly for the old girl to be slowly crumbling away at the dock. For a few years I had a view of her every morning when I awoke, and even though I knew more than most about her actual condition it was a stirring sight. When I had done some quite extensive surveys on her I was constantly being reminded of the people that built her and those that sailed her. I was in spaces not seen by the public, and ones not safe in some cases for such visits. One space was a cabin full of drawings of the ship, another was a back stairs, not glamorous but a service stairs and crumbling under my hand. I entered a part of the boiler rooms, completely empty but compelling in its emptyness, high up the angled plates so distinctive to the upper levels of a boiler room. Later I was working my way on my back in the dark in the bilges, I was wearing a white boiler suit, and it was pitch black except for my small flashlight. I thought I heard the murmur of people, surprising as I had been alone for hours down there. I discovered that I was in a darkened engine room, and that I had surfaced in the middle of a show of ghosts and legends of the Queen Mary. I have no idea what they thought, but it must have been a wee bit surprising! I left feeling sad about things that could have been done in years past to prevent such a mess. I am however glad that in the fifty years or so that the ship has been there she has stirred so many, and been such an attraction to the City. I have followed each turn at the city hall, and admire their determination to keep the ship. Long Beach is a City like many others in the region, but it will be a hard sell to get voters to spring for the huge sums of money really need to fix the problems. Even to remove the ship would be big money, and with the condition she is in a tow would be an uncertain prospect for sure. I cannot easily come up with the name of any ship which could be brought in to replace her. Without a ship there its just a stretch of water - it would be missing its grand focal point. Even now that ship brings pleasure to many, looking a bit sad after a very long voyage. No matter what happens she has done her job far beyond anything her builders imagined. Repairs would not be graceful, and they would take years - the end result would actually not be the Queen Mary anymore. This is a bit like the story of leaving a much loved relative in their rocking chair for years after they pass on. She could end up like those fibreglass funnels we all see now - a wee bit fake, perhaps time to let her go gracefully, she has earned it.

[Lewis McColl]

I wonder if it was a mistake to actually leave her afloat? Would it not have been better to have placed her in a permanent dry dock?? If that had been a feasible option or could become a feasible option. Even at this late stage the fact that she would be spending her days in dry dock would go along way to preserve her. Bottom scrub, steel replacement as required and a paint job. Being dry docked would also perhaps create another source of revenue with dock bottom guided tours. As seafarers how many enjoyed walking the dock bottom seeing parts of our own ships we normally never would see. How many did not stand in awe just looking at how big our own vessels actually looked. Just a thought, but maybe she is beyond that now and would not be cost effective. Sadly I can hear the sound of the cutting torch being ignited.

[happy daze john in oz]

At the time when she was first set there it is quite possible kittle or no thought was given to future costs.
Used as she was as an hotel and other things the money was most likely good.
But the cost of maintaining such a ship like her and in those conditions no doubt became just too much.
Sad really to see such a great ship end her days in this manner.
May have been kinder to treat her like a wounded animal when she had done her time and had her put down.