| CLASSIC DIVE BOOKS
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The "Queen Mary" and the "Queen Elizabeth"
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HOMEPAGE |
| Please note: The books are listed for collectors interest
only, and not offered for sale.
These are numerous books on these two wonderful liners,
far too many to grace these pages. Those listed here are for general interest.
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| A most magnificent ship, the Queen Mary sailed the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line. Built by John Brown and Co, Clydebank, Scotland, she was designed to be the first of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York, in answer to the mainland European superliners of the late 1920s and early 1930s. After their release from World War II troop transport duties, Queen Mary and her younger sister Queen Elizabeth commenced this two-ship service and continued it for two decades until Queen Mary's retirement in 1967. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is permanently berthed in Long Beach, California serving as a museum ship and hotel.I had the pleasure of staying on board her during a business visit in the 1970s. 81,237 gross tons, 1019.4 ft. Wikipedia link. |  . |
| The Queen Elizabeth sailed the Atlantic Ocean
for the Cunard Line, constructed in the 1930s by John Brown and Co. in
Clydebank, Scotland, and named after the Queen Consort at the time of her
launch in 1938. She was was the largest passenger liner ever built at that
time, which was a record that would not be exceeded for fifty six years,
being slightly larger with an improved design over her older sister Queen
Mary. She first entered service in 1940 as a troopship in the Second World
War, and it was not until 1946 that she served in her intended role as
an ocean liner until her retirement in 1968. Together with the Queen Mary,
the Queen Elizabeth maintained a two-ship weekly transatlantic service
from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York for over twenty years. Following
a fire which capsized her, she was scrapped in Hong Kong in 1975.
83,673 gross tons, 1031 ft. Wikipedia link. |
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CAPTAIN OF THE QUEENS
The Autobiography of the former Commodore of the Cunard Line. Captain H. Grattidge. Written in collaboration with Richard Collier. Oldbourne Press, London. No date, but presume not long after the Commodore retired in December1953. Hardcover, dustjacket, 302 pages, no index, a few mono plates. A most readable book. It covers the author's initial days in sail, before steam, and his subsequent rise to be captain of the Queen Mary, and occassionally, the Queen Elizabeth. He was on the ill-fated Lancastria when it went down, and was on the Franconia when it was Churchill's base and wireless point for the famous peace talks at Yalta. As would be expected, once the author has progressed thropugh his hard days before the mast, and introduction into steam as a young officer, the book centres more on the social scene on the Queen Mary. It would be trite to suggest that Captain does not run a ship like the Queen Mary - it is the officers who do the hard yakka, and the captian entains his important guests and does the social scene - a most important role I might add. But that is the way it is by the Captain's own account. And in writing of his role as captain, he is in a position to tell tales of the many famous people on biaord. For those he names, the tales are good; the less socially accepted behavior is attributed to a pseudenom. Aftyer all, the captain of the Queens are not gossipers and have the highest social integrity. I found this book a delight to read, and I have the impression that Captain Grattidge was quite a fine man. [ps] |
| FURTHER READING:
Warrior Queens: The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth in World War II . D.A. Butler. Stackpole Books, 2002 Destiny's Daughter: The Tragedy of RMS Queen Elizabeth. R.Galbraith. Trafalgar Square, 1988. The Cunard White Star Quadruple-screw North Atlantic Liner, Queen Mary. Bonanza Books, 289 p., 1979. Largely a reprint of a special edition of "The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-builder" from 1936. Masters and Commanders: How four titans won the war in the West, 1941-1945. Andrew Roberts. Harper Collins, London |
