The Queens were a British response to the express superliners built by German, Italian and French companies in the late s and early s. Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage on 27 May and won the Blue Riband that August; [5] she lost the title to SS Normandie in and recaptured it in , holding it until , when it was taken by the new SS United States.
With the outbreak of World War II , she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers during the conflict. On one voyage in , she carried over 16, people, the still-standing record for the most people on a vessel. Following the war, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and along with Queen Elizabeth commenced the two-ship transatlantic passenger service for which the two ships were initially built. The pair dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late s.
By the mids, Queen Mary was ageing and was operating at a loss. After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen Mary was officially retired from service in She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California , United States, where she was permanently moored.
The City of Long Beach bought the ship to serve as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum and a hotel. The city contracted out management of the ship to various third-party firms over the years. It took back operational control in With Weimar Germany launching Bremen and Europa into service, Britain did not want to be left behind in the shipbuilding race.
White Star Line began construction on their 80,ton Oceanic in , while Cunard planned a 75,ton unnamed ship of their own. Work was halted in December due to the Great Depression and Cunard applied to the British Government for a loan to complete The loan was granted, with enough money to complete the unfinished ship, and also to build a running mate, with the intention to provide a two ship weekly service to New York.
