This silent newsreel film from the mid-1940s presents the building and launch of the passenger liner RMS Queen Mary, known as “No. 534” during construction. The film contains some wonderful images of the John Brown & Company shipyard at Clydebank in Scotland. (Viewers will note newspaper headlines about the “restart” of work on the ship at 1:01 in the film. The headline refers to the fact that initial work on the ship was stopped, in December 1931, due to the Great Depression. Cunard applied to the British Government for a loan to complete 534. 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. As a result of the loan, Cunard merged with White Star forming the Cunard-White Star Line.) At 3:25 the ship’s 35-ton propellers are seen. At 4:02, an aerial shot shows the ships nearly finished hull sans smokestacks. At 4:33 the launching of the ship is shown and at 5:29 she slides down the ways. At 7:10 the Queen and King congratulate the builders. At 7:59 the ship, with extensive work now finished on the upper decks, At 8:26, first fueling of the massive vessel. At 8:49, final work completed on the ship. At 9:22, decoration of the interior of the ship by artisans, who are shown working on stained glass. At 9:50 King Edward VIII arrives to review the ship at Clydeside. At 11:01 the ship is shown at the start of her test run. At 12:10 the liner returns after an initial voyage south, with great fanfare. At 12:49, maiden voyage begins. At 14:53, the film describes the use of the Queen Mary as a troop ship during WWII.

RMS Queen Mary sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. Queen Mary, along with RMS Queen Elizabeth, were built as part of Cunard’s planned two-ship weekly express service between Southampton, Cherbourg and New York. Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage on 27 May 1936 and won the Blue Riband that August; she lost the title to SS Normandie in 1937 and recaptured it in 1938, holding it until 1952, 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. 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 two ships dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late 1950s. By the mid-1960s, 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 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she remains permanently moored.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com