Mauritania Review, June 15, 1909

[ricker]

Here is an interesting account of crossing the Atlantic on the Mauritania. The author, a young man traveling with his father to visit their family in Wales, and offers an interesting perspective to trans Atlantic crossing on a Cunard ship in 1909.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/familyhistory/pages/jacob2.shtml

 

Rick Jones

[Richard Schmidt]

Here is an interesting account of crossing the Atlantic on the Mauritania. The author, a young man traveling with his father to visit their family in Wales, and offers an interesting perspective to trans Atlantic crossing on a Cunard ship in 1909.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/familyhistory/pages/jacob2.shtml

 

Rick Jones

 

Thanks for sharing this with the members of this community. As we conjecture and contend on this site over such things as the fate of the QE2, and the legitimacy, or lack of same, of the Queen Mary 2 as a successor to the Cunard 'liners of the past, this posting presents a nice opportunity to return to "our roots".

[Richard Schmidt]

Here is an interesting account of crossing the Atlantic on the Mauritania. The author, a young man traveling with his father to visit their family in Wales, and offers an interesting perspective to trans Atlantic crossing on a Cunard ship in 1909.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/familyhistory/pages/jacob2.shtml

 

Rick Jones

 

P.S. Jacob's last shipboard entry is "I hate to leave this boat." I've told myself that a dozen times on each of the crossings I've made on QE 2. All of us who love her have done so. Nice to know the sentiment was the same a century ago.

 

Richard

[JohnEZ]

Richard, this is a little bit off topic, but may I ask exactly what you don't like about Queen Mary 2?

 

I find her to be a very grand ship indeed, a fine and appropriate addition to the Cunard fleet... and, one must remember, things about ships have changed since 1969.

[Richard Schmidt]

Richard, this is a little bit off topic, but may I ask exactly what you don't like about Queen Mary 2?

 

I find her to be a very grand ship indeed, a fine and appropriate addition to the Cunard fleet... and, one must remember, things about ships have changed since 1969.

 

Hi John,

 

You are correct: things about ships have changed since 1969. Please understand that I do not begrudge you your appreciation for things "modern." In a perfect world the QE2 and the Queen Mary 2 could co-exist. They could pass, mid-ocean, and you, on your ship, and I, on mine, could say "Thank God I'm not on that ship!" Sadly, the new fashion demands the extinction of the old, and the Queen Mary 2, which is best fitted for tropical cruises and the World Cruise, instead usurps the QE 2's trans-Atlantic role while it waits for the even more plastic Queen Victoria to come in and help kill off the last real trans-Atlantic 'liner. That being said, here is why I do not like the Queen Mary 2: aesthetics and history.

 

1) Design: The square stern and stubby funnels of the Queen Mary 2, coupled with the "ocean-front condo-on-steroids" super-structure, cannot compare to the low, sleek, North Atlantic/Force 9 gale design of the QE2. The men who built the Lusitania or Olympic would recognize QE2 for a trans-Atlantic liner. They wouldn't know what to make of the newer vessel.

 

2) Wood. Real ocean liners, including the QE2, have wood in their construction, like their predecessors Queen's Mary and Elizabeth. Wood creaks and groans in high seas and warms the interior stairwells to the point that they feel like an old library. Good luck finding some on the SOLAS-loving Queen Mary 2.

 

3) Tradition: The QE2 is the last of the UK/John Brown built ships, the end of a line of ships stretching from the mid 1800's. Queen Mary 2 is...French. Their creative genius was exhausted building the Normandie. The prevalence of individual balconies in the cabins destroys the tradition of the promenade. Passengers remain isolated from their fellow travellers.

 

4) "Feel": Real ships have propeller shafts, ones that extend through the hull to propellers that straddle a rudder. The vibrations from the shafts, coupled with the roll of the ship, cause one to sleep the "sleep of the innocent", and serve to remind one that he are at sea. The rudderless Queen Mary 2 has large electric fans that hang in pods beneath it's hull and swivel to push it's bulk around. Picture a bath tub mounted on hair dryers. It is designed to eliminate vibration so completely that passengers might believe they are not on a ship at sea. They aren't.

 

There is more, but I'm off to sleep. Enjoy your ship, please. If you love her, then she is worthy enough. She just isn't for me.

 

Richard

[JohnEZ]

Ahh... all right. I understand. Thanks for the clarification, it is much appreciated :)

 

Also... I'm sorry about the Solas regulations and everything. It is a shame to see something that has graced the Atlantic for 36 years to disappear.

 

Thanks again,

John

 

PS. I do agree with you about what the designers of Olympic and Lusitania would think of QE2.

[Richard Schmidt]

Ahh... all right. I understand. Thanks for the clarification, it is much appreciated :)

 

Also... I'm sorry about the Solas regulations and everything. It is a shame to see something that has graced the Atlantic for 36 years to disappear.

 

Thanks again,

John

 

PS. I do agree with you about what the designers of Olympic and Lusitania would think of QE2.

 

John,

 

Thanks for understanding. I'm afraid I sound like a curmudgeon sometimes. I too think it is a shame that we are seeing the last days of the QE2. I would love to see some movement by Cunard to extend her career. We'll see.

 

Richard

[fastship]

Kindly note this is written with no disrespect towards anyone and I certainly appreciate the shared love Richard Schmidt has for our beloved Queen Elizabeth 2.

 

Would the designers of early liners recognized the QE2 of 1969?

 

Well she did not have a proper funnel then. Nor did she have any "shear" like a proper liner of the day. A stubby mast above her bridge would certainly have looked odd to them.

 

The SS United States had no wood in her construction and perhaps her interiors struck some as cold,(The same was said about QE2's space-age seventies style.) but she was every bit an express liner.

 

Now what about the stern? I agree the QM2 stern is most unappealing, but then what is the proper stern for a transatlantic liner? Cruiser? Counter stern? Spoon stern as on the SS America or United States?

 

Proper liners have propeller shafts? I'm sure someone argued in the nineteenth century that proper transatlantic ships should have sails and paddles too.

QE2 has two screws, might someone think that a Cunard Queen or proper liner have four? Propeller shafts were were the best technology of their time. Time will tell if pods are more efficient or if they merely open more usable space for crew and public spaces.

 

The French have a long history of building great ships.

One is reminded of the France of 1962, a wonderful and powerful transatlantic liner if there ever was one.

 

I too wish the QM2 could have been built in Scotland but it was not to be.

What does this mean in terms of a proper Cunard Queen or ocean liner?

Tradition? Sadly tradition does not pay for new ship construction.

 

I love the QE2 and have sailed her many times. Hopefully I will sail her again. However, She was not meant to last forever and once she is gone if one wishes to cross the Atlantic safely, in style,and in six days, one will not have many options other than an ocean liner called Queen Mary 2.

 

Cheers!

[fastship]

oops,...I misspelled "sheer".......-sorry

[DFD1]

Richard. That was a wonderful posting. Beautifully phrased. Elegant. Thank you so much.

[Richard Schmidt]

Richard. That was a wonderful posting. Beautifully phrased. Elegant. Thank you so much.

 

Thank you for your posting. You are very kind, and I appreciate your comments. I love that ship, and the waning age she represents. Last night I was listening, eyes closed, to the audio portion of a video tape I made aboard QE2 during a storm on the December, 2004 crossing. In the creaking and groaning of her wooden panels and the low, steady rumble of her engines I heard the echoes of older ships, the Mauretania, Bremen, Lusitania. They would have sounded much the same, contending as they did with similar seas. We have what may be a last chance to do a true trans-Atlantic crossing on her in January, 2006. I hope you will be able to go. Thank you again for your message.

 

 

Richard