Hi I'm Chris Frame and thanks so much for joining me. The Queen Mary 2 is probably the best known
passenger ship in service today with her graceful lines and her immense size as well as her one-off
ocean liner design the ship stands out among the 300 or so other cruise ships in service.
There's been so much said about the QM2 and all that makes her special. Often this focuses on
the onboard experience, from the first sea going planetarium to the five-star luxury found in the
Queen's Grill Restaurant. But to me it's often the less talked about history and design features of
the QM2 that make her stand out, and here are five of them. Five things you may not know about the
Queen Mary 2. Number One: she was the first ocean liner built for 30 years and the last ocean liner
in service. When carnival acquired Cunard in 1998 Queen Elizabeth 2 was the only transatlantic liner
left in service. This was a title that QE2 had held since the 1970s. By 1998 QE2 was
almost 30 years old and despite a major refit in 1999 she would eventually need a replacement.
By the 21st century no one had built a proper ocean liner for decades but despite the challenges
Cunard signed the building contract with Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France
in 2000, and construction commenced on Queen Mary 2. Now with the QM2 we're not just talking about
dressing up a cruise ship to look like an ocean liner! Designed by chief naval architect Stephen
Payne, Queen Mary 2 is in every way a true liner capable of undertaking 40 years of transatlantic
crossings in all weather conditions. In addition the ship was designed to offer cruisers in the
same way QE2 had done for decades - making the QM2 a dual purpose liner... you can learn about
the differences between ocean liners cruise ships and dual purpose liners in my video about ocean
liners in the info card or description below. When QE2 eventually retired in 2008 the QM2 became the
last of the great transatlantic liners, a role that she has continued in solitude ever since.
There were two other ocean liners that were in service up until 2020 and that was the Astoria
and the Marco Polo with CMV, however these two ships were operating cruise voyages for cmv
not line voyages and after CMV's collapse in 2020 they've both been withdrawn from servers so
it looks like Queen Mary 2 will remain as the last ocean liner in service for the foreseeable future.
Number Two: You can take your dog, or your cat. If you want to go on transatlantic crossing but
you can't bear the thought of saying goodbye to your beloved pet well the QM2 might have
you covered. The ship has an on-board kennel that can accommodate 24 dogs or cats for the seven-day
crossing. Taking your pet on a luxury crossing might sound a little bit whimsical but it isn't
historically unique, in fact QM2 is just the latest in a long line of Cunard ships that allow
you to take your pet on transatlantic crossings. Her immediate predecessor QE2 had a kennel service
on board throughout her 40-year career with the ship even providing a London lamppost on
the doggie deck for the pet's convenience... Looking back through history most ocean liners
offered a kennel service for long duration line voyages and this includes some very famous ships
such as the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. Others include the Aquitania, Olympic and Mauretania,
in fact even the ill-fated Titanic had dogs on board traveling with their first class owners and
in fact there were 12 dogs on board the ship and three of them survived the disaster. Aboard QM2
animals are only permitted to travel transatlantic so if you're taking a QM2 cruise you'll have
to leave your pet at home... Oh and as a side note many ocean liners in days gone by
had a ship's cat or cats on board the ship to look after stray rats or mice! Number Three:
Her voice is not entirely her own... if you've traveled onboard Queen Mary 2 you would probably
have noticed that she has a very loud whistle! [WHISTLE BLAST]
...well actually it's five whistles! QM2 has two whistles on the bow and one on her mast... these
modern whistles can be heard from 16 kilometers away and are used when the ship is transiting fog
or for signaling other ships. But if you cast your eyes to the funnel you will see two more whistles
these are the ones that get the most attention as the starboard whistle is actually an original from
the RMS Queen Mary. Built in the 1930s the whistle travelled with the ship until she retired in 1967.
It was loaned to Cunard for use on board the QM2 and brought on board in 2003. A
twin modern replica was built to sit alongside it on the funnel these whistles give a distinctive
authentic ocean liner sound check it out... [LOUD WHISTLE FOLLOWED BY HISS FROM STEAM]
Number Four: Her pods weigh as much as a 747 jet - that sounds crazy I know but it's true. Queen Mary
2 has four mermaid pods designed in partnership between Rolls Royce and Alstom. Each pod holds
four stainless steel propeller blades, if you're on board Queen Mary 2 and you want to get an idea
as to what the propeller blades look like you can go to the forward end of Deck 7 where you'll see
the spares housed on the front of the ship - often referred to as 'The Captain's Cufflinks'. Unlike
traditional propellers which push the ship the pods and their propellers pull QM2 through the
water - yes pull the propeller blades at the front of the pod. Of the four pods, two can rotate 360°
acting as a ship's rudder, and the other two are fixed. The rotating pods and all their complex
machinery each weigh 320 tons about the same as a 747 and together they can produce 115,300
horsepower... that's a lot of horses... and it's actually almost double the horsepower that
a 747 can produce when cruising at its maximum cruising altitude with its four jets. Number Five:
She's fast but she's not the fastest ocean liner that's ever been in service. Now the QM2 is the
fastest passenger ship in service today, and she achieved 29.62 knots during her sea trials,
this means that the ship could maintain the same fast transatlantic service that her predecessors
undertook in the golden age of travel. The QM2 is faster than Cunard's record-breaking Mauretania,
which held the Blue Riband from 1909 to 1929. And she's much faster than the Titanic! But she's by
no means the fastest ocean liner that's ever been in service. QE2 was faster by quite a bit, with a
maximum speed of 32 knots. QM2 is also slower than other Atlantic Queens with both the RMS Queen Mary
and RMS Queen Elizabeth besting her maximum speed during sea trials. All of these ships are eclipsed
by the speed of the fastest ocean liner in history the S.S. United States which had a surface speed
of 35 knots. The United States remains the holder of the prestigious Blue Riband for the fastest
westbound transatlantic crossing, a record that she held from 1952 to the present day. But don't
get me wrong the QM2 is very fast and in fact as the largest ocean liner ever built the speeds that
she can achieve are very impressive the ship can easily outrun modern day cruise ships, and her
speed allows her to complete the transatlantic crossings meaning if there is rough weather or
bad seas where you need to slow the ship down that extra time can be made up due to the speed reserve
that Queen Mary 2 has. And as an added bonus the speed means that when QM2 is cruising she can make
more port calls as the ship can get from port to port quicker than a traditional cruise ship!
So there's five things you might not have known about the QM2. If you'd like to know more about
QM2 you can check out a video where I interviewed Stephen Payne, l'll link to it in the info card or
the description below. Thanks so much for watching and I hope you found the video interesting? If you
did please don't forget to give it a like and subscribe and hit the notification bell so you
don't miss future videos. If you're interested in more information about ocean liners check out my
maritime history playlist. And when it is safe for us to travel again
I hope to see you on board. [Cheerful
Music]