HMS Queen Mary deck chair
Laura Swenson
"HMS Queen Mary". Any info??
Oldus Fartus
|| I was given a weathered deck chair with pad which has a brass plaque
|| "HMS Queen Mary". Any info??
Four days ago you told us it said HRM Queen Mary, and there were a
number of answers to your post.
Following on from those replies though, there was a HMS Queen Mary which
was a Battle Cruiser sunk during the Battle of Jutland in the Great War.
Sadly if any deck chairs were carried by her they probably ended up at
the bottom of the Black Sea along with the wreck, which as late as last
year had not been recovered. It is also not very likely any chairs
onboard would have been marked with the ship's name during wartime.
The next Queen Mary, although used in WW2 as a troop transport was never
commissioned into the RN AFAIK and remained as RMS or SS Queen Mary. At
first capable of carrying about 5,500 troops, after further
modifications she was able to carry up to 16,000 between Australia and
Scotland, USA and Australia and later the Atlantic route.
If not for the incorrect engraving, it would have been possible (if
unlikely) for the deck chair to have been removed from her as much of
her luxury peace time fittings were removed in New York Harbour at the
outbreak of hostilities, with the rest removed in Sydney, Australia
before carrying her first load of Australian troops in 1940. The
removed chairs would not have been engraved "HMS Queen Mary" though,
more likely just Cunard or Queen Mary.
Would she have carried deck chairs during the war I hear you ask?
Possibly, but if so they would be most unlikely to carry the ship name,
more likely the D of D arrow, or the Admiralty anchor if any marking at
all, and not likely to be a brass plaque.
Similarly I do not think it likely to be a souvenir from Long Island
where the Queen Mary is currently, as I would like to think the
promotors would not make the basic mistake of calling her HMS Queen Mary
after spending so much time and money restoring her to her former glory.
By the way, just what is the engraving? How about a link to a
photograph of both the chair and the plaque?
--
Cheers
Oldus Fartus
OE users - check out http://jump.to/oe-quotefix
Charleen Bunjiovianna
>
>Similarly I do not think it likely to be a souvenir from Long Island
>where the Queen Mary is currently
You're an entire continents-width off, though I suppose from Australia the
difference is slight enough.
The Queen Mary rests in Long Beach, California, as a hotel.
Much of Queen Mary's excess kit was sold off some years back. I met a
woman who bought four Cube teapots at that sale.
It's sad, really, what happens to liners when they are taken out of
service. QE2 is reaching the end of her useful life. Some areas of
the ship clearly saw their final refurbishment years ago; Carnival
Corporation doesn't even make a token effort at upkeep.
Charleen
Oldus Fartus
came these words
Sorry Charleen, I did mean Long Beach, California, but for some reason I
typed Long Island and humbly crave your forgiveness!
By coincidence I helped one of my grandchildren do a family history
recently, and as my Grandfather was one of the Aussie servicemen "taken
away to war" by the Queen Mary we had discussed her, and her history.
He often used to tell me he would love to do a trip on her under more
pleasant circumstances, but sadly never had the opportunity.
--
Best wishes
Oldus Fartus
