The Queen Elizabeth liner was designed to be an improved version of the Queen Mary and was officially launched in 1938. With the onset of war, however, both Queens were diverted to war duties and the Queen Elizabeth did not make her first commercial journey until 1946.
The two Queens dominated the transatlantic passenger trade during the 1940s and 1950s, but gradually the popularity of flight took its toll. In 1954, one million people had crossed the Atlantic by sea and around 600,000 by air, but by 1961 the figures had changed drastically with 750,000 going by sea and two million by air. The two liners were large and uneconomic to operate. Their size made them inflexible and not easily adapted to routes other than the transatlantic crossings, too wide, for example, to pass through the Panama Canal.
It was decided to replace the two liners with one smaller, more economical ship the Queen Elizabeth 2. The Queen Mary retired first, moving to Long Beach in 1967 to become a hotel. I stayed there in summer 2000: as a hotel it was somewhat lacking in comfort and space, but the tour of the ship was fascinating. Even if you choose not to stay there I highly recommend a visit.
The Queen Elizabeth retired a year later
and I was there to see her final sailing from Southampton in November 1968
Sadly, she didn’t have as happy a retirement as her fellow Queen. Elizabeth (she lost the Queen part of her name when she retired) was badly damaged by fire in 1972 and the burnt wreck capsized in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. The famous wreck appeared in in the 1974 James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun, as a covert headquarters for MI6 but shortly afterwards it was dismantled for scrap. It enjoyed the dubious fame of being the largest ever passenger shipwreck, eventually being overtaken in 2012 by the Costa Concordia.
Travel with Intent 
What a great throwback story and photo!
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Thank you
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What a great flashback photo. I had no idea the Queen Mary was now a hotel! I would love to tour it, but maybe not to stay đ
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This is a very fascinating history of the two boats! I’m not a big fan of cruises, the open water scare me a little bit, but I would love to visit a ship like that!
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I’m not a fan either, not because I don’t like the water, because I like to wander and soak up the atmosphere of a place, I would feel too trapped even on a huge ship
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Visiting from Travel Photo Monday. Interesting that you can stay on the Queen Mary and have a tour and that they both were used in the war.
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What a lovely story. Love the vintage picture and fashion on the dockside. It was so interesting reading about what happens to these wonderful old ships – how sad about ending up in Hong Kong harbour though đŚ (By the way Hello! I found you at lovely Noel Morata’s today!)
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We have the hulk of another abandoned ocean liner from about the same era rusting at a dock in Philadelphia—the SS United States. There is a society trying to raise money to save and restore her, but I’m not optimistic.
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I imagine a huge amount of money would be required
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Very cool story, wow the state rooms are interesting with those single beds
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I was amazed at just how luxurious it was.
On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 6:41 AM, Travel with Intent wrote:
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What great photos. I had dinner on the Queen Mary in Long Beach in 1999. I know reside in Fremantle, Western Australia and the new Queen Mary II visits us a few times each year. I love the nostalgia of the older ship, but think that the modern equivalent is a worthy successor.
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Cruising doesn’t appeal to me at all – though maybe it will when I’m older and less mobile – but I love the history of these old liners. And my first real travels were on a school cruise ship back in 1974. There may be some old photos to come from that trip too!
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These were from my old Kodak Instamatic. They have survived quite well. A lot of my photos from the late 70s and 80s have faded badly. When I have time I’m going to scan them all in.
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Fantastic flashback, Debbie, already anticioating more! Like the nostalgic use of old photos too!
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