November 13, 2018 ▸ History, Myth & Folklore

Episode 347: RMS Queen Mary: Her Haunted History

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On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we talk about history and hauntings of one of the greatest ships ever to sail the seas, The Queen Mary. Now docked in Long Beach, California and used as a hotel and tourist destination, the RMS Queen Mary has had an interesting past and has undergo many transformations before she became the haunted Grand Dame of the seas that she is today.

Built in 1930, the construction of the ship was fraught with problems. There was a Great Depression going on, so the company went broke as she was being built. After a few years in dry dock, the Cunard Line who was building her asked the British Government for help. They did, and after forcing some corporate mergers, the Queen Mary and her sister ship were both completed. The Queen Mary was the fastest ship on the seas for several years, and was larger than the Titanic. She was a passenger and mail liner from England to the US for years, until the break of World War Two.

When the war broke out, she was retrofitted from a luxury liner to a troop transport and would regularly take as many as 15,000 seamen from Australia to England to help in the war. Known as the Gray Ghost, she set a record for the most people ever moved on one cruise that she still holds to this day. The Queen Mary was so fast that Nazi U-Boats couldn’t catch her; indeed, she was so fast, she once cut another ship in half by sailing right through and cutting it in half!

Once the war ended, she ran for several more years until being purchased by the city of Long Beach as a tourist attraction, which she still is today.

One of the major draws to this ship now is the haunting. Time Magazine ranks The Queen Mary as one of the top ten most haunted places on earth. There are horrifying occurrences that happen in Suite B340 (which got so bad, they quit letting passengers stay there for years). There are hauntings of both pools on the ship. There is an eerie Lady in White who dances to a silent orchestra. There is the little girl with a teddy bear, the crying baby in the nursery, and the man who was cut in half by Door 13.

The hauntings used to be a secret kept by the staff since their knowledge would make people not want to stay there. Now, however, it is a draw, and even though they play it up for business, the history of the ship suggests there is something to the tales of terror from within her decks.