TS Queen Mary : The world's last surviving excursion turbine steamer

2007 view of Queen Mary in retirement at Waterloo Bridge, London. She is no longer open as a pub & restaurant and is expected to leave London for a new life in France, leaving her moring under tow, initially to Tilbury on Monday 9th November 2009.  

LATEST NEWS (and photographs)

The latest information is that the tow may start between 7.30 and 8.00 am, ready to get under Blackfriars Bridge between 8.30 and 9.00 am on November 9th.
The tow to Tilbury is expected to be undertaken by the tug Aicirtron assisted by Unico and Horton. The tow to La Rochelle is in the hands of Capital Marine. See here for a news item on their website. Capital Marine is the parent company of Capital Boats who acted as sales agents in the purchase.

Queen Mary was closed for business in January 2009 and sold in April for conversion into a floating hotel to be moored at the yacht marina at the port of La Rochelle in France.
After arrival in La Rochelle, she will begin a 17-month long conversion. She will have three suites, 24 four-star rooms and 18 three-star rooms. There will also be a restaurant, bar and fitness centre.
The new owner is M. Samuel Boudon, Managing Director of Naval Force 3, a shipyard in la Rochelle dedicated to the construction of luxury yachts as a private venture. It is expected that the refit will be undertaken by sister companies of NF3 located in La Rochelle, all part of the Pole Refit group. One company, the Atlantic Refit Centre, can handle yachts of up to 150 metres in length, almost double the size of Queen Mary.

The initial prospectus issued by the new owners, including the planned capital constitution of the new company to be formed to run her can be seen on this link:   http://server17.sitewizard.co.uk/sites/captialmarine/images/queenmary_simon_org_gif.gif

What the prospectus says is that M Boudon has been monitoring Queen Mary's status for quite some time and when the opportunity to buy her arose, he stepped in. This, along with the illustration of Queen Mary, gives the webmaster hope that the buyer is a genuine supporter of the ship and that his plans do involve maintaining her traditional lines, possibly returning her appearance closer to the original, and doing a high quality job on her conversion.

Latest views : On November 5th, with four days to go until she moves, Ben took this view with the gangway now disconnected .....

Below are views of Queen Mary - on 27th October 2009  - kindly supplied by Michael Anderson

MORE RECENT PHOTOS :
Click here for the section of the photograph gallery dealing with Queen Mary under preparation for her tow to La Rochelle

SPECIFICATIONS AND HISTORY

Built for Williamson-Buchanan Steamers Ltd for their Clyde services from Bridge Wharf, Glasgow
Twin funnels exhausing a Scotch-type boiler were painted in Williamson-Buchanan colours, white with black tops
Normal weekday schedule was to leave Glasgow at 10:00 hrs for Dunoon and Rothesay, with a range of onward non-landing cruises
Saturdays saw her leave Glasgow at 13:45 for Dunoon, Rothesay and the Kyles of Bute
Renamed Queen Mary II in 1935 to allow her name to be used for the new Cunard liner
Williamson-Buchanan (1935) Ltd established in October 1935 as her owners became a subsidiary of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co.
Only took the yellow and black funnel colours of the CSP in December 1939 and was finally registered as owned by that company in 1943
Remained on the Clyde throughout the Second World War generally between Gourock and Dunoon sporting a range of (mostly grey) camouflage liveries.    
Mainmast fitted in 1954 to meet new safety regulations - and new cafeteria facilities installed in the same year
Converted to an oil burning Yarrow water-tube boiler in early 1957 when one large elliptical funnel replaced her two funnels
Radar installed in 1960.
Masts shortened in 1969 so that she could sail under the new Kingston Bridge on which a new motorway ran through Glasgow
After the 1969 season, Glasgow sailings were withdrawn and she sailed out of Gourock
Refitted in 1971 and undertook sailings as far as Campbeltown, in succession to the withdrawn Duchess of Hamilton
Her original name was restored in 1976 after Cunard's Queen Mary was removed from the register.
In her later years, sailings to and from Glasgow were restored
Withdrawn in 1977 after local government tourist development grants were withdrawn and given to support the paddle steamer Waverley.
Her final cruise was an evening "Showboat" cruise from Largs to Rothesay and through the Kyles of Bute on September 12th 1977.
Laid-up at East India harbour, Greenock.
Sold to Glasgow District Council in June 1978, but plans to retain her as a museum on the Clyde came to nothing.
Sold for use as a restaurant on the Clyde.
Sold to Euroyachts Ltd and then in 1981 to Tesright Ltd and moved to King George V Dock, London and later to Tilbury.
Turbines removed - two donated to the Science Museum, London and one retained on the vessel (one now at the Scottish maritime Museum, Irvine)
Damaged by fire during refitting. Laid up.
Sold to brewers Bass-Charrington (Toby Restaurants Division) in 1987 : this company is now part of Mitchells & Butlers plc.
Refitted at the Crescent Shipyard, Chatham with new funnels, masts, companionways and bulkheads. Warren Smith Architects involved in the design work.
Moved on July 29th 1988 to the Embankment in central London under tow by Warrior, Triton and Sir Aubrey of Warrior Towage Ltd.
In her new position, she replaced her former Clyde fleetmate PS Caledonia, which was lost to fire at her Embankment berth in 1980
Has become a successful restaurant and function suite at her prime central London location
Received a major refurbishment in 1997.
Renovated and repainted in resplendent white in March 2006 after one year in light blue. White funnels with black tops were restored, now featuring a "QM" inscription
Closed for business in January 2009 and sold in April 2009 by Mitchells & Butlers plc, successors to the Bass Retail Leisure organisation
Sold to French interests for use as a floating hotel at La Rochelle.
Expected to leave London in October 2009 and reopen for business in France in 2011

QUEEN MARY : HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPH ARCHIVE

THE FOUNDATION'S PROJECT TO OFFER QUEEN MARY AS A MUSEUM ATTRACTION TO A SUITABLE ORGANISATION HAS NOW BEEN ABANDONED, BUT IT WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE SITUATION

The Clyde Turbine Steamer Foundation is dedicated to ensuring the long-term survival of Queen Mary in a suitable role. Having failed in an earlier attempt to find an organisation willing to establish her as a floating maritime museum in the Glasgow area, despite raising significant finance to enable her purchase and delivery, it will now seek to ensure that she is successful in her new role as a hotel.
Whilst she still exists, is taken good care of and not altered significantly externally, there is always hope for her future.

THE HISTORICAL CASE FOR HER PRESERVATION REMAINS COMPELLING

The importance and uniqueness of ships can often be overstated and it is wrong to make too many claims to fame for any ships, but in the 21st century we are now seeing quite a few "last ofs" and Queen Mary can claim one of these as well as a strong direct link to a fleet-mate which really was a "first of" of her type worldwide

- Direct link (ownership, construction yard, general design principles, service history) to the world's first ever steam turbine powered passenger ship (King Edward of 1901)

- The last surviving turbine powered coastal cruising excursion steamer on the UK's National Register of Historic Vessels (NRHV) and the last of her class worldwide

- With her steam turbines still in preservation, she is one of the last few remaining non-military turbine ships of any type still in existence anywhere as this once-dominant form of propulsion now disappears from the marine engineering scene

Her importance to the social history of Glasgow and the Firth of Clyde should not be underestimated. She followed her predecessors by being primarily based in the centre of Glasgow and ferrying many hundreds of thousands of its citizens to the Clyde resorts for day trips and for their annual holidays. Going "doon the watter" was one of the timeless aspects of industrial Glasgow's life - a rare chance to escape the city for the fresh air and beautiful scenery of the Firth - in a ship built along the banks of the Clyde alongside some of the world's most important vessels of their day. 

She has, of course, the popular acclaim of being the "original" Queen Mary and holding the name that the Cunard line wished for its new ocean liner, the largest in the world for many years. The generosity of her owners saw the name go to the Cunarder which still lies in Long Beach, California, to this day, whilst the Clyde steamer became "Queen Mary II" for most of its working life and sported a gifted portrait of the monarch in her forward saloon in appreciation.

WAS THERE EVER A FINER COASTAL EXCURSION VESSEL THAN TS QUEEN MARY ?

A post card view of Queen Mary, probably during her trials in 1933, supplied by kind courtesy of Gillon Ferguson.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN QUEEN MARY IN ANY WAY, PLEASE LET THE WEBMASTER KNOW

Please e-mail Gordon Stewart at the Foundation on this link. 

IF QUEEN MARY EVER BECOMES "AT RISK", WE NEED CONTINGENCY PLANS TO SAVE HER.  IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THIS WOULD HAVE TO BE AS A FLOATING "BOUTIQUE" HOTEL, BUT RE-CONVERSION NEED NOT BE RULED OUT.
IF YOU HAVE A CONTINGENCY PLAN WHICH YOU COULD EFFECT IF REQUIRED, PLEASE LET THE WEBMASTER KNOW.

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