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Last Updated: Dec 12, 2008 - 4:54:39 PM |
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Related Article: A Ghost Story
The Queen Mary, permanently berthed in Long Beach, Calif. after making more than a thousand Atlantic passages. Mitch Traphagen
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LONG BEACH, CALIF. - It was considered the ultimate in luxury travel in her time and then served diligently during World War II, transporting nearly 800,000 troops – including, certainly, some from East Iowa. After the war, it reunited new families by transporting thousands of young brides and their children from Europe to the U.S. and Canada to be with their now ex-GI husbands. It then resumed carrying passengers back and forth across the Atlantic.
At one time, the Queen Mary was the fastest and one of the largest passenger ships afloat, considerably larger than the Titanic. A long list of celebrities and world leaders have been aboard — prior to the war, it was considered the only civilized way to cross the Atlantic. It still holds a record for the greatest number of souls aboard a private vessel — approximately 16,000 servicemen and crew made a single Atlantic crossing.
Aboard, there were two swimming pools — a luxury for the time — including a second-class pool, unheard of at the time. Regardless of the class of passage, travelers were immersed in luxury.
But despite her dedicated service during WWII, advances in technology made during the war proved to be the ship's undoing. By the 1950s, air travel began to replace ships as the means of choice for crossing the Atlantic. Also, newer ships provided features not found on the Queen Mary. It seemed her time had come and gone.
In 1967, she crossed the Atlantic for the 1,001st time and docked permanently in Long Beach, Calif. The city had purchased her to serve as a maritime museum - at the time they had no intention of preserving her as an ocean liner. But had it not been for Long Beach, her last voyage would have been to the scrap yard. Today, she is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
More than 70 years after the ship had been cheered by tens of thousands of people upon departing on her maiden voyage, I stepped aboard in awe to find the past has come alive on the Queen Mary. Much has changed, however, since it arrived in Long Beach; it no longer has a means of propulsion, the lower decks had largely been cleared to make way for the museum, and other modifications were made during the conversion into a hotel.
During initial renovations, no one gave much thought to the idea that the Queen Mary was a museum in her own right. No one thought the accommodations and features that were removed would someday be missed.
But somehow, through the changes, her spirit has remained intact. The beautiful burled wood walls still gleam and the decks seem poised to tell the stories of the famous, powerful and forgotten people who have been aboard.
During the day the Queen Mary is a beehive of activity, with tourists visiting the restaurants and shops. At night, I felt as though I had the ship to myself. Walking outside on the Promenade Deck in the dark, I tried to imagine what it was like to be on this ship while it was at sea. What were the hopes and dreams of the passengers? Were they excited about the adventure? Were they thrilled beyond words by the luxury and accommodations they found aboard? Or, were they frightened by things unseen in the cold, dark waters of the North Atlantic?
Sitting in my room — formerly a first-class stateroom — I wondered about those who were here before me. I found myself wishing the walls could talk.
The bridge of the Queen Mary remains intact although the controls no longer serve their purpose. Many of the mechanicals of the ship, including the large boilers, were removed when it was permanently moored in Long Beach. Mitch Traphagen Photo
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And perhaps they can. Several ghosts are said to haunt the Queen Mary. In fact, the haunting reports are so frequent, not only does the hotel offer several ghost tours of the ship, but also a stateroom has been closed, reportedly due to frequent otherworldly encounters.
All of that, of course, causes many maritime historians a fair amount of chagrin. It seems that reports of ghosts didn't begin until the Queen Mary arrived in California. But maybe there is a reason for that — perhaps she is haunted by memories.
And in those memories, perhaps somewhere in the no-longer-functioning mechanicals of this grand ship, her heart is still beating. The soul of the Queen Mary may still wish to be at sea.
But, like all of us, she is dying. The wood is slowly beginning to rot; the heavy metal is rusting away. Not even the most meticulous care will stop that from happening. The Queen Mary will never sail again. Meanwhile, the hotel staff works to maintain her dignity. Signs on the decks remind visitors they are indeed on a ship, and four times each day the horns sound. She is still afloat, but there is no longer a path to the sea — a breakwater of boulders blocks the way. All she has left is the past.
The shops aboard are relatively few, some parts of the ship are a little tired and there is virtually nothing in the way of evening entertainment in the immediate area (although the city of Long Beach does provide free shuttle service to downtown). But despite all that, my strong recommendation is to go. Go and stay aboard the Queen Mary. Don't look for the latest in mindless entertainment, but rather go, wander the historic decks and immerse yourself in the history and luxury from a different age. Go now while her heart is still beating and perhaps you, too, will feel the spirit of this legendary ship.
On the Web: www.queenmary.com
© Copyright 2008 by The East Iowa Herald
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