Long Beach's iconic Queen Mary reigns again

[Music] Queen Mary Queen of the Seas 880,000 tons over 1,000 ft long the most magnificent ship the world has ever seen that was March 1936 as the Majestic Mary left Scotland where she was built steaming to Southampton for her maiden voyage CER line spared no expense constructing the luxury liner she was in a class all her own but 50 years later she'd become just a tourist attraction in Long Beach California Decades of disinterest and not so benign neglect dimmed her majesty and she became a royal burden now as Tom White shows us the queen Reigns again the Queen Mary approaches her final resting place at Long Beach to Great Fanfare in 1967 the Queen Mary makes landfall for the last time in Long Beach California today the Majestic ocean liner sits proudly at the Port there's a soul here that other ships don't have but the Queen Mary has it Commodore Everett horde has been looking after the queen for 43 years if the ship has a soul he is the heart she's the closest thing to a living being that I have ever commanded the Queen Mary is a floating Museum the Fab party for the 1200 passengers once the playground for the Rich and Famous transporting Hollywood royalty and actual Royals Winston Churchill also took trips aboard the ship guided from this very bridge this is the automatic pilot right here but the Queen Mary's Reign almost came to an end after decades in Port the mighty ship fell into disrepair and was in danger of sinking the Queen Mary is a lucky ship I believe the ship has a bit of a providential kiss upon her perhaps that kiss kept the ship afloat like other iconic ships the Queen Mary with its opulent Art Deco interior made the transition from a luxury liner to a critical military asset during World War II 2,000 Port holes and windows were quickly blacked out all running lights were extinguished for the next 6 years in 1947 the Queen Mary resumed passenger voyages but with air travel becoming popular the ship would be retired the City of Long Beach bought it in 1967 to be a waterfront tourist attraction give the old Queen a tremendous welcome but decades later the pandemic shut down the Queen Mary and in 2021 the City of Long Beach took control again to save it and we evaluated the options to scrap the Queen Mary and the cost to fully restore it and the cost to protect it and we ultimately made the decision as a city council to give the Queen Mary another shot a new partnership with Evolution Hospitality would revive the deteriorating ship and even turn a profit the ship does everything it can to create these fun and exciting things to do and then once we make money we put it right back into the ship the liner's Grandeur is attracting new generations of fans I want the Queen Mary's Legacy to be one of beauty Splendor heroism so now it's up to the Queen's visitors to keep the Legacy alive as long as they keep coming the Queen Mary will endure Tom waight CBS News Long Beach California

Channel: CBS Evening News

Views: 55,223

Keywords: Long Beach, California, Clips, U.S.

Id: bIA4VSSw9U0

Length: 3min 18sec (198 seconds)

Published: Sun May 05 2024