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Description
Built in Scotland by John Brown & Co. (the same yard that built the four-funnelers RMS Lusitania and Aquitania, along with the battlecruiser HMS Hood) of Clydebank, RMS Queen Mary was to become the Cunard Line's newest superliner to retire the aging RMS Mauretania from 1908 but her construction was halted when the Great Depression struck (she was laid down on 1st December 1930, but I'll get into that). Her completion almost didn't happen as she was nearly cancelled and with the White Star Line's planned 85,000GRT behemoth "RMMV Oceanic" but a combination of the Great Depression and Cunard's influence with the Admiralty meant that Queen Mary would be built while RMMV Oceanic was cancelled (its keel scrapped on the slipway). After that near disaster and then added emergency funding from the British Government, the new Cunard superliner was launched on 26th September 1934. Queen Mary was quite the shock as her name differed from Cunard tradition of having names with the suffix "-ia" however there have been stories about how she became named after Mary of Teck, wife of King George V, with many denied by back then (and still are) by Cunard officials but it's believed someone was playing favourites, according to an interview with Sir Percy Bates (chairman of the Cunard at the time) published after Bates' passing.

RMS Queen Mary entered service on 26th May 1936 following the new Cunard-White Star Line (the merger of Cunard and White Star in 1934) to cover for the losses of the legendary veteran liners RMS Mauretania (withdrawn 1934) and RMS Olympic (withdrawn 1935) and in August that year, captured the coveted Blue Riband from the French superliner SS Normandie (entered service 1935), beginning an infamous rivalry between the Scottish-built lady and French aristocrat. Queen Mary lost the Blue Riband to Normandie in 1937 but recaptured a year later, all the while that her running mate/Aquitania's replacement was being built. In September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany, effectively beginning the Second World War. Queen Mary at New York harbour with the new RMS Queen Elizabeth and the French Normandie to protect them from enemy hands and underwent conversion to troopships. Queen Mary's was completed in Sydney (Australia) with her degaussing cables fitted by 1940. Due to her "battleship grey" colour combined with her top speed of about 32.9 knots (about 61km/h), Queen Mary was nicknamed "Grey Ghost" and due to her capacity, Adolf Hitler placed a bounty of about US$250K (US$4.665M in today's money) and the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves to whatever U-boat sinks Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth but due to their speed, there was little chance due to their speed. Queen Mary would survive WWII transporting thousands of troops to Europe and Australia from the United States, as well as transporting 15,740 soldiers and 943 crew (total: 16,683) in June 1943, setting a new record for the most people carried on a single vessel and still stands today.

Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth went on to serve as ocean liners, only to be killed by the arrival of the jet airliner and sailing with more crew than passengers. After 31 years of sterling service and a majestic wartime record as a troopship, Queen Mary was retired in 1967 and now lives a peaceful retirement at Long Beach, California. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, RMS Queen Mary was closed in May 2020 with control transferred from Eagle Hospitality Trust (who were leased the liner) to the City of Long Beach with her being restored to her 1950s condition and all but three of her lifeboats sadly scrapped in 2022. On 1st April 2023, Queen Mary reopened to the public once more, even if she blew her whistle later than wanted (A Queen is never early or late. She blows her whistle at exactly the right time).

This design took some influence from the one drawn by Taiwanese artist KazeYang such as Queen Mary having a summer hat (in mine, the colours come from the Cunard Line). The jacket behind is a nod to her wartime service as the "Grey Ghost". Note I've been ignoring a major design flaw that almost sunk her in WWII and resulted in her other nickname. Queen Mary was known listing (even on calm seas) and resulted in her being known as "The Rolling Mary".

Description
Built in Scotland by John Brown & Co. (the same yard that built the four-funnelers RMS Lusitania and Aquitania, along with the battlecruiser HMS Hood) of Clydebank, RMS Queen Mary was to become the Cunard Line's newest superliner to retire the aging RMS Mauretania from 1908 but her construction was halted when the Great Depression struck (she was laid down on 1st December 1930, but I'll get into that). Her completion almost didn't happen as she was nearly cancelled and with the White Star Line's planned 85,000GRT behemoth "RMMV Oceanic" but a combination of the Great Depression and Cunard's influence with the Admiralty meant that Queen Mary would be built while RMMV Oceanic was cancelled (its keel scrapped on the slipway). After that near disaster and then added emergency funding from the British Government, the new Cunard superliner was launched on 26th September 1934. Queen Mary was quite the shock as her name differed from Cunard tradition of having names with the suffix "-ia" however there have been stories about how she became named after Mary of Teck, wife of King George V, with many denied by back then (and still are) by Cunard officials but it's believed someone was playing favourites, according to an interview with Sir Percy Bates (chairman of the Cunard at the time) published after Bates' passing.

RMS Queen Mary entered service on 26th May 1936 following the new Cunard-White Star Line (the merger of Cunard and White Star in 1934) to cover for the losses of the legendary veteran liners RMS Mauretania (withdrawn 1934) and RMS Olympic (withdrawn 1935) and in August that year, captured the coveted Blue Riband from the French superliner SS Normandie (entered service 1935), beginning an infamous rivalry between the Scottish-built lady and French aristocrat. Queen Mary lost the Blue Riband to Normandie in 1937 but recaptured a year later, all the while that her running mate/Aquitania's replacement was being built. In September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany, effectively beginning the Second World War. Queen Mary at New York harbour with the new RMS Queen Elizabeth and the French Normandie to protect them from enemy hands and underwent conversion to troopships. Queen Mary's was completed in Sydney (Australia) with her degaussing cables fitted by 1940. Due to her "battleship grey" colour combined with her top speed of about 32.9 knots (about 61km/h), Queen Mary was nicknamed "Grey Ghost" and due to her capacity, Adolf Hitler placed a bounty of about US$250K (US$4.665M in today's money) and the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves to whatever U-boat sinks Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth but due to their speed, there was little chance due to their speed. Queen Mary would survive WWII transporting thousands of troops to Europe and Australia from the United States, as well as transporting 15,740 soldiers and 943 crew (total: 16,683) in June 1943, setting a new record for the most people carried on a single vessel and still stands today.

Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth went on to serve as ocean liners, only to be killed by the arrival of the jet airliner and sailing with more crew than passengers. After 31 years of sterling service and a majestic wartime record as a troopship, Queen Mary was retired in 1967 and now lives a peaceful retirement at Long Beach, California. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, RMS Queen Mary was closed in May 2020 with control transferred from Eagle Hospitality Trust (who were leased the liner) to the City of Long Beach with her being restored to her 1950s condition and all but three of her lifeboats sadly scrapped in 2022. On 1st April 2023, Queen Mary reopened to the public once more, even if she blew her whistle later than wanted (A Queen is never early or late. She blows her whistle at exactly the right time).

This design took some influence from the one drawn by Taiwanese artist KazeYang such as Queen Mary having a summer hat (in mine, the colours come from the Cunard Line). The jacket behind is a nod to her wartime service as the "Grey Ghost". Note I've been ignoring a major design flaw that almost sunk her in WWII and resulted in her other nickname. Queen Mary was known listing (even on calm seas) and resulted in her being known as "The Rolling Mary".