RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line (known as Cunard-White Star when the vessel entered service). Built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland, Queen Mary along with her running mate, the RMS Queen Elizabeth, were built as part of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service between Southampton, Cherbourg, and New York City. The two ships were a British response to the superliners built by German and French companies in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Queen Mary was the flagship of the Cunard Line from May 1936 until October 1946 when she was replaced in that role by Queen Elizabeth. The vessel also held the Blue Riband from 1936 to 1937 and then from 1938 to 1952 when she was beaten by the new SS United States.
Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage on 27 May 1936 and captured the Blue Riband in August of that year; she lost the title to SS Normandie in 1937 and recaptured it in 1938. With the outbreak of World War II, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the duration of the war. Following the war, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and along with Queen Elizabeth commenced the two-ship transatlantic passenger service for which the two ships were initially built. The two ships dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late 1950s. By the mid-1960s Queen Mary was aging and though still among the most popular transatlantic liners, was operating at a loss.
After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she remains permanently moored. Much of the machinery including two of the four steam turbines, three of the four propellers, and all of the boilers were removed, and the ship now serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum, and hotel. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1967, the Queen Mary was pulled from service and was sold to the city of Long Beach, California, to be used as a maritime museum and hotel. On December 9, 1967, she made her final voyage to Long Beach.
During her 60-year history, the Queen Mary was the site of 49 reported deaths, opening the doorway for potential spirits to haunt her. Reported hauntings include a young crewman in the engine room, swimmers in the first-class pool, a man in black, and a woman in blue. Some of the Queen Mary's most haunted places include the propeller box, engine room, boiler room, cargo hold and first class swimming pool.
One of these hauntings is thought to be the spirit of John Pedder, a fireman in his late teens who was crushed to death by a watertight door in 1966 during a routine drill. Unexplained knocking has been heard around the door, and a tour guide reported she saw a figure dressed in dark clothing as she was leaving the area where the young man had been killed. She saw his face and recognized him from his photographs. He was dressed in blue coveralls and sporting a beard. The young man has often been seen walking along Shaft Alley before disappearing by door number 13. This famous door was used in the filming of the Posiedon Adventure and has reportedly crushed at least two men during the ship's history.
The first-class swimming pool seems to be a hot spot for ghostly encounters. Wet footprints mysteriously appear even though there's not a drop of water in the pool. These footsteps lead from the deck of the pool to the changing rooms. Women in vintage bathing suits are occasionally seen stopping by for a swim ,even though the pool has been closed for more than 30 years. There have also been reports of seeing the spirit of a young girl carrying her teddy bear along with disembodied voices, laughter and splashing sounds.
In the second class pool area the spirit of another little girl named Jackie is often been seen and heard. The girl drowned in the pool during the ship's sailing days and doesn't seem to want to move on. Her voice and the sound of laughter has been captured in this area.
In the room that was used as the third class playroom, there have been reports of the sound of children crying in the nursery room. There is also a report that a single baby's cry has been heard. This crying is thought to be that of an infant boy who died there shortly after he was born.
In some of the first-class staterooms there have been reports of a tall, dark haired man wearing a 1930's style suit showing up in various places. In addition to sightings of the man, the faucets and lights get turned on in the middle of the night, and phones ring in the early morning hours but no one is ever on the other end of the line.
There are several other reports of sightings about the ship including a beautiful young woman in an elegant white evening gown who dances alone in a shadowy corner of the salon, which was once used as the ship's first-class lounge. Another mysterious woman in white has been seen close to the front desk. She will usually disappear behind a pillar.
Other phenomena that has been reported throughout the ship include the sounds of knocking, doors slamming and high pitched squeals, drastic temperature changes, and the recurring smells of another time.
The Queen Mary has been investigated by a number of paranormal professionals, printed publications, television shows like Ghost Hunters and Most Haunted, and several others. In addition to portions of the movie "The Poseidon Adventure" being filmed there, the X-Files filmed a 1998 WWII era episode about a time warp in the Bermuda Triangle aboard the ship. That was a great episode - it was called "Triangle" - you should check it out if you missed it!
On the Ghost Hunters episode, what was thought to be a fantastic paranormal event caught on tape turned out to be not so fantastic as it appeared someone had tampered with the video camera. So is the Queen Mary really haunted or not? The Ghost Hunters are heading back out there in February of 2008 to see if they can find out. Hopefully there won't be any tampering this time and they can capture some evidence to support all the claims of paranormal activity on the Queen Mary.
