Welcome to the April 2023 construction update of the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.
First this update is going to be all about the work currently happening on the ship,
if you would like to get more of a background on the overall condition of the ship or the
long term projects happening, I highly suggest you check out the February update.
I have a link to it in the description below.
In fact if you haven’t seen it, I suggest you do, because it covers topics we won’t
cover here on this video.
I have a HUGE update for you today, and I’d like to thank my good friend from the LMG
Vids YouTube channel, for shooting the footage you are about to see.
I am Alex, and this is the Alex the Historian YouTube channel.
I fell in love with the RMS Queen Mary during my last visit in January of 2020, prior to
its closure for the pandemic.
I have since produced a lot of informative and historical content on the design, function,
and history of the ship, and along the way, I’ve befriended many historians and insiders
who are either directly or indirectly associated with the ship, and this is how I present the
most accurate information I possibly can to the community of Queen Mary fans who would
otherwise be left in the dark about the information regarding the ship and its current condition.
First let's briefly cover the topic of the Russian Scorpion Submarine next to the bow
of the Queen Mary.
It will take too long to explain everything in detail so here’s the bullet points:
It was installed in 1998 by temporarily removing a portion of the breakwater that surrounds
the ship.
The submarine operated as an exhibit until it was abandoned in 2015 after changing hands
with a few different owners.
The submarine is so extremely corroded that in 2021 Long Beach hired a marine engineering
firm that suggested repairs were more costly than the submarine was worth.
Essentially, it has the structural integrity of wet paper.
Long Beach feels the only option is to remove it, but if you try to float it out, lift it,
or scrap it in place, it may collapse or sink, and also release dangerous contaminants into
the environment.
Right now there is an ongoing dispute over who the last owner of the submarine really
is, and who should spend the $5 million or more to remove it.
Now onto Queen Mary news.
The elevator tower just outside the ship had it’s lifts refurbished, they now run smoother,
quieter, and more reliably than before.
The rooftops of the dock structure have been lined with a new sand beige roofing material.
Queen Mary’s teak wood promenade is still the original wood planks from 1936 and were
recently sanded down and stained a color that more closely matches the original look.
The spaces between the deck boards have been re-sealed and now the promenade is looking
better than it has in nearly 50 years.
Queen Mary’s Main Hall is undergoing lots of restoration.
You can see that the flooring is being replaced, looking back at my footage from January of
2020, you can see the linoleum floors that were installed in mid 1990s, over the years
they have bubbled and warped and become uneven, not to mention they looked almost permanently
filthy.
They’re currently replacing that 1990s flooring with new linoleum that more closely resembles
the korkoid floors that this area was given in 1947.
I personally prefer the 1936 floor pattern, though.
And another thing you should note is that the recessed bands of light in the ceiling
have been reworked with programmable color LED strips.
The reason is that originally the recessed light bands were comprised of hundreds of
bulbs, those bulbs were expensive to replace during her years in Long Beach so they only
kept one out of every 3 bulbs illuminated.
But now the LEDs create a fuller band of light, and the colors can be changed seasonally or
for holidays and special events.
I know there are many fans of incandescent light, but in California incandescent light
bulbs are getting more difficult to manufacture and sell due to various regulations.
Warm white LEDs can produce the same color hue to that of an incandescent bulb and you’ll
see the proof later in the video.
The forward first-class staircase still retains its original korkoid floors, which have now
been professionally cleaned and polished.
They look amazing now and still retain the indents of women’s high heels from the days
when the ship rolled on the ocean swells.
On the midship stairwell, also considered Queen Mary’s grand staircase, the old worn-out
carpeting with strips of duct tape, has been completely replaced…unfortunately the carpeting
does not resemble the same pattern as the 1936 korkoid floor, but at least its new and
free of duct tape.
Slip-resistant plastic edges have also been installed.
In the first class Main Lounge on Promenade Deck, work is still ongoing to refurbish the
room.
A curtain covers a work area where the restoration of the fittings in the room is taking place.
While there’s nothing new to show you here, at least we know that in the coming weeks
and months, this room will be getting some much-needed tlc.
In the corridors, the terrible fluorescent lights that have been used over the last decade,
have been replaced with warm white LEDs that illuminate the corridors more brightly and
yet with a soft warm hue.
The old fluorescent lights can still be seen in the smaller corridors on the right, and
they make the wall paneling appear green, but they too will soon be replaced.
I think we can all say good riddance to the fluorescent lights!
The Observation Bar is only open for tours currently, and has temporarily received the
chairs from Sir Winston’s but this room is slated to get all new floors that look
historically accurate, as well as new historically accurate furniture.
Just outside the Observation Bar, the plexiglass wind barriers have been removed from the outdoor
promenade.
It’s possible this was done to restore the original look of this area, as the plexiglass
made it look tacky, if this is true, then it is a welcome change!
Over on the forecastle deck, the area is closed off to visitors while the deck equipment receives
rust abatement treatment and brand-new coats of paint.
We can also expect this area to receive new teak wood decks to replace the decrepit planks
that were installed in 1994 to replace the original 1936 teak.
But as a reminder, the teak of the sheltered promenade is original to 1936 and is now in
fantastic condition.
Another change that has been made is to the lighting around the engineering spaces of
the ship.
As you can see from my footage taken in January of 2020, the room was dimly lit and at times
it was hard to see what was around the corner, or even see enough to not miss your footing.
But now the room is much more brightly lit, and there are new special effects show lights
that really add a nice touch to the room.
Although, I will say some of them don’t make sense, like seeing the water reflection,
or the purple and red lights, or the flickering flame lights.
In this room, pools of water and burning fire would not have been seen during her years
in service, but from the perspective of showmanship, these special effects do add an interesting
touch, and might be appreciated by younger visitors.
Walt Disney felt that Disneyland’s key to success was always keeping the show fresh
and giving people a new reason to come.
And this is a step in the right direction.
Long Beach, if you’re watching, and I know sometimes you are, great job, and might I
suggest some low-volume sound effects in this room?
Nothing too loud though!
And now, to more pressing matters.
On both sides of the promenade deck, the terrible effects of rainwater runoff corrosion has
left gaping holes in the side shell and at the base of the davits.
These photos show the corrosion.
As a disclaimer, we didn’t have to touch or open panels or anything, we did not violate
any property rules to obtain these photos…these damages are visible to everyone when peering
from the correct angle.
Now, these damages are the main reason all but two of the lifeboats were removed from
the davits, there was very little steel left to support the weight, and that weight was
transferred onto the side shell which itself was rotting away at the base.
If you don’t believe that the weight of the lifeboats was significant enough to be
a risk to the structure, consider that after all 300,000 pounds of lifeboats were removed,
the entire ship rose out of the water by almost 12 inches.
As a side note, the ship sitting higher in the water now proof that she was not sitting
on the bottom of the harbor, or buried in mud.
The ship really does float and she rises and falls with the tide.
Currently, workers are patching holes in the sideshell and applying a protective layer
of paint, but in the near future, the sideshell will have to be replaced as the corrosion
goes all the way up to the windows.
As for the davits above the sun deck, they are getting properly repainted.
When the bottoms of the davits began rotting and sagging, the weight of the lifeboats transferred
onto the sideshell and started breaking the high-strength promenade windows.
Upon inspection on April 3rd, it seems many of these broken windows have been replaced
by Long Beach workers, as a manufacturer’s sticker was still attached to one of them.
Many of the lifeboats that were removed from Queen Mary were destroyed with the exception
of one that sits on the dock for viewing and 5 more in storage.
While all the lifeboats were made of riveted steel, rainwater that was allowed to pool
inside over the course of almost 3 decades, has rotted out the keels of several of them.
Previous operators of the ship tried to hide this by screwing false fiberglass bottoms
to cover the gaping holes, but ultimately, this did not help the structural integrity
of the boats and they were at risk of buckling and collapsing onto visitors.
The lifeboat on the dock is being reinforced with wood braces to prevent it from sagging
and bowing.
We can expect that lifeboat and the two remaining on the ship to be restored in the near future.
The funnels on Queen Mary today are stainless steel replicas of the originals and were installed
in the year 1970.
The aft funnel, has been peeling almost since the moment it was last repainted in 2018,
due to the oversight of painting it during a particularly hot heatwave.
Long Beach has expressed that they will be scraping the funnel down to the bare steel
and properly repainting it.
But do not expect the funnels to return to the original Cunard Orange, as that color
fades faster in sunlight, even with a uv protective coating.
The red that is used on the ship currently, is closer to the shade of red used on Cunard
ships built before and after RMS Queen Mary’s construction.
You can currently take tours aboard the ship, although if you take the steam and steel tour,
the one that discusses the mechanical operation of the ship, then for the time being, you
won’t be able to see the boiler rooms or the propeller shaft alleys.
This is because 11 brand-new bilge pump systems are still in the final stages of installation.
The bilge pumps are designed to automatically pump water out of the ship in the highly unlikely
chance that the ship develops a major leak.
In fact, in this image, you can see one of the brand-new bilge extraction pipes welded
to the hull of the ship right at the waterline.
Work continues on sanding and refinishing exterior handrails and doing repainting work,
before the ship reopened for tours, the forward superstructure which was badly peeling, was
scraped down to the bare steel, then primed and painted.
I heard that they are even using real marine-grade paint this time, as opposed to regular outdoor
paint.
One final update is that officials from the City of Long Beach recently met with the Port
of Long Beach to continue their talks about transferring control of the ship to them since
the Port has experience with this kind of thing and they have deeper pockets than the
city.
Transferring control of the ship to them would be a very positive thing because the Port
of Long Beach plans to expand and revitalize the Carnival Cruise terminal to be capable
of mooring between 2 to 4 cruise ships, thereby doubling or quadrupling the amount of money
the Queen Mary receives towards her annual maintenance.
And that new terminal will be what they call a 5th generation terminal, where the focus
is turning it into a “mega entertainment center”, it will be the first of its kind
in the United States and will be beneficial to the Queen Mary, which floats just steps
away from it.
Aside from this, plans for a nearby dry dock large enough to fit the Queen Mary and modern
cargo and cruise ships, is still slowly inching along.
Well folks, I must say things are looking more promising than even I had anticipated,
and that’s really saying something, considering how positive I’ve been about this.
I have personally spoken to Long Beach officials over a video call, and they were more than
excited to be working on the Queen Mary.
They genuinely care.
I always say that the proof is in the pudding, that when the ship reopened, we would know
how committed they were based on the condition of the ship.
When my friend visited the ship on April 3rd, it was teeming with construction workers,
not just the ones doing major renovation work, but also odd jobs like paint touch-ups on
interior areas, shining and polishing of brass and bronze features, electricians were actively
repairing original lamps and lights, and I haven’t been able to confirm it yet, but
it seems in select areas, original wall paneling is getting refinished and polished.
The amount of work going on to restore and beautify the ship, is quite admirable, and
a very welcome sight.
You can book tours and rooms on the Queen Mary Hotel website right now, tours are selling
out quickly, and rooms start becoming occupied on May 12th, after that you can expect more
of the ship to open up and be available to roam.
If you have purchased a Queen Mary annual membership but are concerned that you didn’t
get any confirmation of your purchase, be sure to carry with you a copy of your bank
statement showing your purchase.
Your annual membership does not begin until the ship starts selling general admission
to the public, which is at a date yet to be announced.
So don’t worry, as of the posting of this video, your annual membership has not started
yet.
That does it for this update, I’ll see you all the next time there is big news to share.
Be sure to like and subscribe to the channel for more videos about the history of the Queen
Mary, and the age of steam.