Love this size comparison. After sailing on Discovery Princess, seeing Queen Mary after did warp my perception of her size. And I mean literally. My eyes were warp-adjusting. Was pretty trippy. But there’s no comparison in quality, durability and craftsmanship. Friends that have been aboard with me have said that the ship was bigger than they expected it to be. I remember how scared I was of heights when I was young and how hard it was for me to go up the stairs to the bridge at maybe 8-years-old. Love the Disneyland comparisons especially.
Her speed is even more impressive when one realizes she managed it without a bulbous bow, which meant she required far more power to achieve her speed than her closest rival, the Normandie, did. If she'd had those extra design improvements, imagine how fast she could have gone.
I was on Queen Mary twice and by heaven you couldn't get me on these top heavy "cruise" ships in the north Atlantic at gunpoint. I'm taking QM2 west bound in May. A real lner slowed to seven nights.. My uncle was chief engineer on United States and I sailed on her in both directions but at speed. Last time we floated in the narrows for lack of a berth! I know this passage will be my last and looking forward to it
Yeah I said ten decks in a previous video a long time ago and got berated by the Titanic community. Apparently one of the levels is not counted as a deck, so officially she had 9. I dont fully understand it, so I'm just going with it.
I think some of my strongest memories of visiting the Queen Mary when I was a little kid... was 1 - The bridge and the docking wings .. 2 - the view of the huge underwater screw where you walked outside of the hull to view it... and 3 - I remember the Jacques Cousteau exhibit that was there a long long time ago. I know that was kind of disliked by some of the preservationists because it took out so much of the interior areas of the ship but it was fascinating to a young kid like I was.
Oh what a fun video!! Thank you, Alex!! Cracked me up when you compared it to the Mark Twain "Nine and a half Mark Twain's" and showed trying to fit in on the Tom Sawyer island! BTW- I think your friend Chris (LMG Videos) visited Tokyo Disney Sea. I would love to see some kind of comparison with that awesome large steamship that looks like Queen Mary that's built basically just for a restaurant!! Thank you so much! 😀😍
Yeah Kris loves to visit Japan and Tokyo Disney Sea, he goes there often. Yeah the "SS COLUMBIA" at Tokyo Disney Sea is a nod to the Queen Mary, since Disney Sea was originally designed for Long Beach. It's a huge restaurant. But would be dwarfed by the real Queen Mary!
Amazing video! There is one slight mistake i’d like to point out. When mentioning the statistics for the Icon of the Seas, you say she is over 248,600 gross “registered” tons. Cruise ships today are not measured in GRT. There were new tonnage regulations created in 1969 which essentially replaced GRT with GT (Gross Tons). By 1994, practically every ship was only being measured in either gross or net tonnages. Since GRT and GT obviously take different considerations when calculating tonnage, it means that old ocean liners calculated with the GRT method are a bit difficult to compare to modern cruise ships, as they are calculated in GT instead.
yaay Switzerland was mentioned 😀 as I commented a couple of weeks ago, i have to see the QM in real life because of your videos! Now i have booked LA for mid may. I am so excited 😆
I just visited the Queen Mary a few weeks ago. She’s such a grand ship!! I have a story I’d like to share with you Alex about our my trip to the ship. Let me know if you’re interested!!
@@AlextheHistorian I’m happy to share the basics! A few weeks ago I wasn’t doing well mentally let’s say. I had always wanted to visit QM, as I’ve been interested in oceanliners and vintage design and fashion as long as I can remember. I’m a middle aged trans woman that didn’t come out until later in life. People can be cruel. My intentions were to book a night on the Queen and enjoy myself for a bit before returning home and doing the unthinkable. As I arrived at the ship and checked in, my mood started improving. But I was still intent on taking the way out. I got ready and wore a favorite dress to dinner, and when I got back to my room. I broke down. My mood had improved to the point I couldn’t go through with it. I called my mom and came clean to her about what I had been up to. After being on ship and feeling the history of all the service men and women she transported, and fought and stood down fascism I knew I couldn’t yield and give in to the hate. Not to mention how QM plowed through the seas and nearly was lost herself to the rogue wave she encounter in 1942. It goes against what the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth fought through. She’s still here as a testament to human strength. Queen Mary still existing to this day is the reason I am sitting here and typing this to you.
@BrookieCooki84 There is definitely something about the Queen Mary that gets through to people in need. I'm glad you are still around. Don't let the hate win, you push back against it by living a good life for yourself.
@@AlextheHistorianI certainly agree that she does!! Thank you for the kind words! I shall do exactly that! I love your channel, keep up the great work!
Alex ik im a bit annoying lol but !! Do you prefer the exterior of the Mary or the Elizabeth ? Honestly me I haven’t seen half of the interiors of the Mary or the Lizzie but from what I’ve seen the Mary’s interiors were more of a classic look a homey and comfy look while the Lizzie had similarities in design she had the more “modern” interior and what is your favorite ocean liner ? I’ll list mines -again so sorry for being annoying- my 1st definitely has to the be SS United States my 2nd ofc the Queen Mary my 3rd Titanic 4th Andrea Doria 5th Conte di Savoia 6th Olympic 7th the Michaelangelo 8th the QE2 and I have more I just can’t think of them right now. ❤
Queen Mary is my favorite liner. I prefer her interior and exterior to any other liner. The exterior retained the classic ocean liner appearance despite other ships like Normandie utilizing an entirely new design. As for the interiors of Queen Mary, I love them as well, they were more Art Deco than Streamline Moderne, whereas Queen Elizabeth looked more Streamline Moderne than Art Deco. I have a video that lists my top 10 favorite ships and what I like about them.
@@AlextheHistorian agreed the Mary is the more attractive liner the 3 funnels the well deck the superstructure the stern ! I wish more of the original 1936/the time she arrived in Long Beach layout was kept like the entrance to that door in the dining room the second class pool and more like I wonder how many public rooms aren’t being used
I literally said "let's have a little fun and whimsy with these comparisons", if you weren't prepared for little absurdity after that, then I cannot help you.
@@AlextheHistorian It's becoming redundant and ridiculous. The Queen Mary stated - they we're going to stop guests from running up and down the hallways with Cameras chasing ghosts? NOPE! They have realized, Including the GM that's it's bringing in the Money. You Slam Disney for ruining the Queen Mary Yet your still in there Camp. The QM loves this publicity like Disneyland loves those Disney RU-vidrs. It's FREE!
The Queen Mary is also a movie star having played the titular ship in The Poseidon Adventure as well as well as the most famous ocean liner that ever existed in SOS Titanic.
Fantastic video. I'm glad you were able to inform people on just how massive the Queen really is. I always felt that I had a good handle mentally on just how big she is, but I know that when I finally see her in person in just three weeks, her size will still blow my socks off. Long may our favorite ship, the mighty Queen of the seas reign.
When I first saw her in person when I was a kid, I was shocked by how big she was. Because I wasn't as well versed in maritime history at the time, only after doing some research did I realize she was bigger than the Titanic. The RMS Titanic and Queen Mary are easily my favourite ocean liners and in my opinion, are the best looking ones.
She has more history than most ships of her time or after her. From saving thousands of lives as "The Grey Ghost" because she was so fast and avoided u-boats, to her later days a a movie set for countless TV shows and movies besides the Poseidon Adventure. I was fortunate to have been on her many times since she arrived in Long Beach. Even during the time when she shared attractions with "The Spruce Goose" and was a part of Disney with the little town between them. I had a very special tour, with a nice girl who took me and a few others to places that were, at the time, not normally open to the public. We saw leftovers from sets and even the old boiler rooms and other locations. In fact I learned so much that while taking my daughter on a trip, I mentioned some items to the docent when he asked if anybody knew about this great lady. After that he started asking me questions during the tour. I'm glad she's finally getting some good restoration again. It would be a shame to let her flounder and die like they did the U.S.S America.
First comment! You are the best RU-vidr there is. If I had a lot of money I would donate $500-$1000 to your UK Trip. I do hope you get to see it and somehow take the boat both ways! Best of luck
Just made a hot tea, turned on the computer and guess what was waiting just for me on this rainy morning?? Why a new "Alex The Historian Video." It's going to be a great day. mike
Bonjour Alex ! Comparing Queen Mary to Icon of the seas is the same as comparing a Bugatti Royal to a large Toyota SUV, to illustrate the example.😉 I'll send you new photos of my "Queens" with my brand new SS Normandie at the same scale 1/400. Check your junk mail just in case.👋
I remember the first time going to the Queen Mary. I was probably 7 years old and I was there with my parents for a model train show in the convention center area. I wasn’t the brightest kid since I thought a queen lived on the ship. 😂
From the QM to the obelisks of ancient Egypt, human skill, ingenuity & tenacity never cease to amaze me. So-called geniuses exist in every walk of life: Scientific, engineering, medical, creative-artistic, athletic, financial, etc. Even managing & maintaining the QM properly takes a lot of skillset. By contrast, Urban Commons lacked that---although they were short-lived geniuses in the art of the con. Feh.
Really good alex! I have an original copy of the Book of Comparisons that Cunard made upon her introduction. The facts presented in there are still amazing to read through today.
I knew very few ships traverse around South America, but I didn’t know why until I watched this video. It’s a miracle Queen Mary survived the journey. She truly is a survivor.
Fascinating video. Speaking of skyscrapers on their side, my city has a railway bridge designed by Eifel and it looks exactly like the Eifel Tower in Paris on turned its side! It's actually been the bane of my city for years as the loading gauge is too small for modern trains, but because it's designed by Eifel it's a scheduled monument and couldn't be demolished! In the end they split it in two between the lines, moved the two sections apart onto new abutments, and squeezed a new, larger bridge between them in a similar style so from a distance it still looks like the same bridge. (it's still under construction. The new bridge is operating, the old one is still being restored. One half will end up as a pedestrian and cycle bridge, the other a sort of urban park ala the High Line in NYC)
Honestly I would rather be on the Queen Mary than a monstrosity like Icon of the Seas. The size of these newer cruise ships has gotten ridiculous. The Queen Mary, even though her purpose was different, had so much more personalized beauty and elegance. She was just the right size too.
It has been a few years since i have seen her in person, it was back in 2016 when I visited her, the paint was faded and it was an overcast day but I was still enthralled by ship. She looks great now, I enjoy seeing your update videos, I will have to fly back out that way and stay on her in the coming future.
My mother took my to see the Spruce Goose under the dome when I was 12. We took the entire tour and it was impressive. My Grandparents took me to the Long Beach ship yard where they stored the Goose disassembled for awhile. It was in several pieces just sitting next to a huge warehouse. Not many people ever got to see it that way. My Grandfather knew the yard ownesr and they got us in to the high security area. It was unreal.
This is a excellent documentary about one of the most decorative ocean liners in history thinking about her war afforded during WW11 and all of the soldiers that called her home during the war new that they were saling on some thing special and that was the rms queen mary and what is so breath tacking is when you see old footage of her with all sixteen thousand soldiers aboard her all safe and secure healthy and sound coming in to New York and going pass the statue of liberty to bring the soldiers back home on solid ground back to the United States of America where they belonged and even when they painted her gray she was still a sight to see and I first went aboard her in 1975 when I was seven and fill in ❤with her not because her name sake was the queen of England I fill in love with her because of her ageless beutiy and she still continues to amaze me after all these years she deserves the red white and blue and the stars and stripes because she is all that and then some not only is she a legend she's a testimony to every thing that she has ever done for this country and for the world she is still here because she wants to be and she is still here for a purpose and that is to educate God bless you queen mary job well done and keep write on teaching 💙
I forgot to ask a question after all these years. How many battle stars or citations did the Queen Mary receive for her service in world war two, if these apply for a non-warship? Can a monument be dedicated on her today?
Being an Ocean Liner, Queen Mary did not recieve any battle stars or citations. A monument could be dedicated as a novelty from the City of Long Beach, but I doubt any government entity would do it.
In my video I said that Queen Mary is the "Last transatlantic liner built before World War II". Hikawa Maru wasn't a transatlantic liner, it was a transpacific liner.
Great video again Alex! I knew the RMS Queen Mary was big but not this big! It would've been fun though if you compared her to the 4 other preserved liners: SS United States, SS Rotterdam, RMS Queen Elizabeth, RMS Queen Mary II. But still it was a great video!
The video was meant to compare her to things the layman would understand. If you're not a ship enthusiast, then you don't get a good understanding of the Queen Mary's size by comparing her to SS US, because most people off the street have no idea how big the SS US is. But most people have a visual understanding of the Eiffel Tower, or of a city bus, or an airplane.
2:22 Not anymore. Many airlines around the world have already retired or are in the process of retiring their 747s from passenger service. The only airline that I know of that is still operating them in passenger service it Luftansa.
the claim that she was the last transatlantic liner built prior to WW2 is not right. The Queen Elizebeth was still constructed prior to it and launched prior. But if you count completion the Nieuw Amsterdam is still later than the Queen Mary as she entered service in may of 1938
That's not what I meant, I meant that Queen Mary is the last REMAINING transatlantic liner built before World War II. Not that she was the last to be constructed, that would be a strange thing to promote.
Yep, the Aero Club of Southern California, who used to own the Spruce Goose, has asked Disney for an extension on their time limit. They were worried that they would have to cut the plane up and send the pieces to different museums. Disney denied their request. The Aero Club was very lucky because Del Smith of Evergreen Aviation bought the plane and built a custom designed museum for it. But thanks to Disney the plane was nearly cut apart and the pieces scattered.
Actually the 747 is not typical anymore (Boeing already ended it's production and airlines are phasing them out slowly). It is a popular means of measurement nonetheless, since the thing is still surprisingly huge and it is worthy of an engineering marvel.
Titanic was 882 feet, 9 inches long. That comes out to 269.06 meters. So it is correct to say 269 meters when rounding down to the nearest whole meter. As for the graphics, I didn't make them, I don't have that kind of skill. I just use pre-existing graphics.
The sum the video up, the Queen is enormous. Not as big as the ugly floating apartment blocks of today, but size matters not in the constant battle against the sea. The ocean will always win in that arena.
