RMS Queen Mary (1906) The Voyage Ahead by John Young  In 1936 the Queen Mary, on her sixth voyage out, won the Blue Riband of the Atlantic from the French Line's Normandie by making the run from Bishop's Rock to Ambrose Lighthouse in 4 days, 27 minutes at a speed of 30.14 knots. The following year the title was lost back to the Normandie but recovered in 1938 with an outward crossing of 3 days, 21 hours and 48 minutes at a speed of 30.99 knots.  The Queen Mary was commissioned as a transport on March 1st 1940, having been laid up in New York since the outbreak of war. After being fitted out in Sydney, Australia, she made her first voyage from there on May 5th, 1940. On September 29th 1946, the Queen Mary arrived at Southampton from Halifax on her last trooping voyage, and a few days later was sent to John Brown's for reconversion to a passenger ship. Almost a year later, on July 31st 1947, she began her first post-war sailing from Southampton to Cherbourg and New York. From then on, she was engaged in the Southampton-Cherbourg-New York service, with a call at Plymouth eastbound.  In May 1967, Cunard decided to sell her to the highest bidder, rather than send her to the scrapyard, as by this time she wad operating at a loss of $2 million a year. She was sold on August 18th 1967, for $3,450,000 to the City of Long Beach, California. She arrived at Southampton on September 27th 1967, after completing her 1,000th, and last voyage for Cunard. A period of four years was spent refitting her, and she finally opened for business as a hotel, maritime museum and convention centre on May 10th 1971.  RMS Queen Elizabeth (1938) mid Atlantic by John Young  The Queen Elizabeth was the largest ship in the world. She had a promenade deck 724ft long. Her forward funnel was 71ft high. Each propeller weighed 32 tons, and her anchors were 16 tons.  She was originally employed on the Southampton-Cherbourg-New York run, calling at Plymouth eastbound, with some cruising. In March, 1955, she was fitted with twin stabilisers.  During the late sixties she was operating at a loss and Cunard exchanged contracts with the City of Lauderdale on April 5th, 1968. Berth 107 saw the Elizabeth leave Southampton for her last voyage on November 29th, 1968, bound for her new home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After her arrival she was converted to a hotel and night club, as was the Queen Mary.  The Queen Elizabeth covered over 3,470,000 miles and carried more then 2,300,000 passengers during her 907 Atlantic crossings. She also saw considerable war service, having secretly crossed to New York from the Clyde on March 2nd, 1940. Fitted out for transport duties, she had accommodation for almost 16,000 armed men. She was de-commissioned on March 6th 1946, after varying 811,324 service men and steaming 492,635 miles. Not proving a success after her sale to the USA, she was sold to Mr C. Y. Tung in 1970 and employed as a floating university. Sadly, on January 9th 1972, fire broke out while she was being renovated in Hong Kong. She was soon engulfed in flames and capsized at noon the following day, where she remains to this day.  Queen Elizabeth 2 (1969) off Rio De Janeiro by John Young  The largest twin-screw vessel, QE2 is the Cunard Line's flagship and is currently in service. Her maiden voyage was on May 2nd 1969.  She operates a transatlantic service between Southampton and New York, occasionally calling at Cobh or Cherbourg westbound. She is auxiliary equipped, with two Stone Kamewa bow thrusters athwartship, and has a bulbous bow. She is fitted with Denny-Brown motion stabilisers, and is fully air-conditioned. She has ten lounges, a promenade deck 750ft in length, 11 bars and a theatre seating 530 people.