A bit of maritime history - Queen Mary

[Bob C.]

What an interesting question. I honestly don't know how long the adjacent berth had been vacant. But as Normandie was being converted by the USN, perhaps space was needed to access her?

Cheers!

OK, game on.  The question is now eating away at me and I am looking for answers.  I did find this page (http://www.ww2troopships.com/ships/q/queenmary/cruiserecord1942.htm) that shows that after QM arrived in New York on 12 Jan 1942 from Trinidad, she departed on 26 Jan for Boston for a 3 week drydock at Boston Naval Shipyard.  If she was moored at Pier 90, this could have left the berth open for up to 14 days before Normandie's fire and capsizing.  The big question is: was QM parked at Pier 90 before she went to Boston and if so, did any other ship park there between 26 Jan and 09 Feb?  QM's log books or better yet the PANY logs hold the answer.  Just need to find where the are and if I can access them.   

[Dr. Edmund Carus]

Yes the QM logs would really help. Other ships using Pier 90 could include the QE, Aquitania and Mauretania(II). Try this source - they might be able to help:

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/


Cheers!

[Stowaway2k]

Present-day on the Queen Mary...

[Twynkle]

Currently, There are some amazing photographs advertised on ebay.com

The seller is cornerstoneimages

Here's an example:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1961-Luxury-Liner-Row-Chelsea-Piers-Aerial-View-NYC_W0QQitemZ270611583626QQcategoryZ48QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3911.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6914734819753021731#ht_3538wt_1073

- scroll down this page for a real treat!

[Twynkle]

The Queen Mary had a serious incident in Cherbourg in the 1950s.  I don't recall which captain, but it was his first command of the Queen Mary when on departure the wind pushed the Queen into a part of the harbor in which there were some WW2 submerged wrecks.  The Queen Mary fouled here screw on some underwater debris, trapping her for some time.

Commodore Marr was her Master at the time.
During WW2 part of the sea bed in the harbour had been deliberately strewn with anchor cables in defence of the town.
As we sailed in and out of Cherbourg last October, it was interesting to see the entire area from the height of QM2's Observation deck