The building of the 1,000 foot HMS Queen Mary, QM, was begun in October, 1930 at the John Brown shipyard, Clyde, Scotland. The Great Depression held up construction during 1931 to 1934. On May 27th, 1936, she made her maiden voyage. For three years, she was hostess to international celebrities and statesmen. Queen Mary also held a record for the speediest trans-Atlantic crossing.
HMS Queen Mary History
In 1939,she was a troop transport ship when World War II began and was called The Grey Ghost. The QM had been in a collision, but was repaired and took part in the D-Day invasion. She served at the end of WW II, carrying war brides and the couples’ children to Canada and the US. In 1947, she resumed her voyages as a luxury ship. In 1967, she was withdrawn from service and the city of Long Beach, California bought her to use as a hotel and museum. She is on permanent duty as such.
In the past sixty years, there have been at least forty-nine recorded deaths aboard the ship in addition to wartime casualties.
Some of the Queen Mary's Other Worldly Denizens
- The first and second class swimming pools are no longer used for this type of recreation. People have seen women dressed in the swim suits from the 1930s strolling by the first class pool. Splashing sounds have been heard and wet ghostly footprints were seen. Some people witnessed the phantom of a young girl, holding her teddy bear.
- The engine room is haunted. Door Thirteen crushed at least two men to death. The most recent was in 1966 when a crew member was killed. His bearded ghost is seen in blue jeans walking along Shaft Alley and disappearing by the door.
- Eerie phenomena have happened in some of the first-class staterooms. There’s a specter of a tall dark haired man in a 1930’s type of suit that is a haunter. Water runs and lights turn on during the night. Phones ring in early morning hours, but no one is at the other end of the line.
- In the second class poolroom, The ghost of a young girl, Jackie, is often seen and heard. She drowned in the pool during the ship’s sailing days years ago. Her voice and laughter ring through the ship.
- In the Queen’s Salon, once the ship’s first-class lounge, a beautiful woman in a white evening gown has been seen dancing alone in the shadows of the room.
- A baby crying has been heard in the third class playroom. It is thought to be a child who died shortly after his birth.
These supernatural happenings are hauntings. They are seen and heard, but exhibit no intelligence.
Queen Mary Poltergeist Antics
This list of paranormal phenomena goes on. There are squeals, chains clanking, keys rattling, rowdy party sounds, knockings and doors slamming. Aromas that cannot be accounted for are smelled. Temperatures change drastically for no reason. In one of the kitchens, utensils and dishes move about, as if by touched unseen hands. These might be related to an event when the QM was a military transport ship. It involved a cook who was extremely poor at the culinary arts and wasn’t well liked. The Captain feared a riot and called a cruiser to help avert danger. Before help arrived, the cook was tossed into an oven. He died from his injuries. These phenomena are typical of the poltergeist.
Source:
The Ghostly Register, Arthur Meyers, (Contemporary Books, Inc., 1986)
