Restoring the Queen Mary, one of the world's most famous passenger ships

the queen aiming to reclaim her throne when she was launched in 1936 the Queen Mary was the world's largest passenger ship the card line spared no expense in constructing the luxury liner she fed passengers and even troops during World War II across the Atlantic for more than 30 years but by the 1980s the Queen Mary was relegated for use as a tourist attraction in Long Beach California Decades of neglect LED some to call for her to scrapped but now thanks to a local effort and millions of dollars in upgrades the Queen Mary is once again welcoming guest Tom wait has the story 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 farewell party of 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 all 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 gener ations 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 for CBS Saturday morning Tom waight Long Beach California Majestic is such a great way of describing that and it's absolutely gorgeous to see the kind of Renovations they've put into it but I have to say the the Commodore is just such a sweet man I love the way he approaches it did like his hat we'll get you one of those I just thought it it' be cool to be on there and sort of feel Titanic old school no sinking but Titanic old school kind of thing

Channel: CBS Mornings

Views: 57,209

Keywords: CBS Saturday Morning, CBS News, video, queen mary, ship, restoration, long beach, california

Id: BNX-vU0ESn8

Length: 3min 41sec (221 seconds)

Published: Sat May 11 2024