Most Haunted -- Queen Mary Part 1, California -- Part 1
The ship was commissioned by Cunard Steamship Company Ltd and was launched on September 26 1934 by Queen Mary and made its maiden voyage on May 27 1936. Its major route was between England and the USA. It's now permanently dry docked at Pier J in Long Beach and is a hotel, museum, restaurant and rental place for special events. In total the liner made 1001 transatlantic crossings. On May 25th King Edward VIII, Her Majesty Queen Mary, Princess Elizabeth (now the Queen), the Duke and Duchess of York (soon to be King George VI and Queen Elizabeth), the Duke and Duchess of Kent and the Duchess of Gloucester visited the ship. In 1939, the ship departed Southampton on her final peacetime voyage, carrying her largest number of passengers to date: 2,552, including Mr. & Mrs. Bob Hope and $44 million in gold bullion. Between March 1940 and September 1946 the Queen Mary was in war service. During this time she carried a total of 765,429 military personnel, sailed a total of 569,429 miles (916,407 km), carried up to 15,000 troops at one time, carried the wounded returning to the United States, transported Winston Churchill three times to conferences and carried 12,886 G.I. brides and children. She retired from regular passenger service on 19th September 1967 (after completing 1,001 crossings of the Atlantic) and arrived in Long Beach on December 9th 1967. She was removed from British Registry and officially turned over to the City of Long Beach on Monday December 11th 1967. On November 2nd 1972 the first 150 hotel rooms were opened, the hotel was taken over by the Hyatt Corporation in 1974. Among the phenomena reported are strange rapping sounds objects moving of their own accord, disembodied voices and many apparitions. A ghost, thought to be that of Senior 2nd Officer William Stark, is often seen. In the now-dry First Class Swimming Pool, two women have been seen, one in 1960s clothing, one in 1930s clothes (both are said to have drowned in the pool). A ghostly little boy is seen in the passageway and splashing and laughter are heard coming from the empty pool and wet footprints seen leading from the deck to the changing rooms. In the Queen's Salon, a beautiful woman in a flowing white dress is often seen dancing alone and unexplained balls of light are also seen. In the First Class Suite area, a man dressed in a 1930's suit has been seen and passengers report heavy breathing and tugging on bed covers.