LUSTY WELCOME

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 129, 2 June 1936, Page 9

LUSTY WELCOME

LINER QUEEN MARY

AltftfVAL AT NEW YOHK

AVERAGE SPEED 29.13 KNOTS

TEN HOURS LOST IN FOG

(British Official Wireless.) (Received June 2, 10.45 a.m.)

RUGBY, June 1

The Cunard-Wliitc Star liner Queen Mary, which reached New York on her maiden voyage this morning, covered the distance of just under 3000 miles between Bishop's Rock and the Ambrose Light in 4 days 5 hours 48 minutes, according to Press reports which reached London this evening.

The present record for the Atlantic crossing measured over this course was set up by the French liner Normandie in May last, and was 4 days 3 hours 24 minutes from east to west. On the voyage from west to cast the Normandie's record was 4 days 3 hours 5 minutes. The time which the Queen Mary lost in fog which she ran into on Saturday is officially computed at ten hours The official average speed for the entire voyage is given as 29.12 knots. The NormandSe's average speed on her maiden trip was 29.68 knots. RESPECT FOR THE ENGINES. The determination of the CunardWhite Star Line and the Queen Mary's commodore, Sir Edgar Britten, to make no attempt upon the record on the maiden voyage, which would not be consistent with due care and respect for the liner's new machinery during the running-in period, was .well known. Nevertheless, as the news came through of the great ship's magnificent progress for the first three days of the voyage the possibility that she would beat the record without special effort began to be canvassed. This idea was flnally abandoned yesterday, however, when it was learned that the Queen Mary had had to reduce speed for several hours on Sunday owing to fog, and in all the circumstances satisfaction is very generally expressed at her performance on her first Atlantic crossing, which is held to have fully justified the high hopes her designers, builders, owners, and indeed the whole nation had set upon her. TWO RECORDS ACHIEVED. The Queen Mary twice broke the record for a day's run. Between noon on Thursday and noon on Friday she covered 747 miles at an average of 29.83 knots, and on the next 25 hours' run she did 766 miles at an average of 30.64 knots. For the next whole day's run her milage dropped owing to fog to 678 miles at 27,12 knots. On the last stage of the voyage until she reached the Ambrose Lighthouse she covered 641 miles at 29.07 knots. When still some miles from the Ambrose Light she slowed down to half-speed, disappointing passengers who had expected a last spurt. MASSED CROWDS WATCH. New York messages describe the welcome which hundreds of thousands gave to the new liner on her arrival. Many thousands standing on roofs of motor-cars on the hills overlooking the entrance to the narrows watched the last stage of the historic maiden trip. Aeroplanes hovered overhead. Crowds massed by Battery Point cheered lustily as the Queen Mary pawed into the Hudson River for docking at her 50th Street berth.

NEW SPEED RECORD LINER NORMANDIE 32 KNOTS REACHED WEST TO EAST VOYAGE (British Official Wireless.) (Received June 2, 11.10 a.m.) RUGBY, June 1. The French liner Normandic, which arrived at Le Havre, shortly after midday from New York, reached 32 knots on the last lap Of her voyage, according to a Paris message. This constitutes a new record for the vessel, the previous fastest speed of which was 31.55 knots. STILL~FASTER ENGINES TO BE ALTERED LONDON, June 1. The competition of the Queen Mary ' on the Atlantic has already resulted in a decision to alter the Normandie's engines during the winter to reduce her present schedule by ten hours. JAPANESE SHIPS MEETING CONTINENTAL COMPETITION (Received June 2, noon.) TOKIO, June 1. Shipyards are working night and day to fill orders for mercantile vessels totalling 58,400 tons. The Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line con- • templates building six luxury liners for the Yokohama-London service— 16,000-ton motor-ships with a speed of 21. knots—to meet English, German, French, and Italian competition. SAVING~A DAY SPEED NOT MAIN ISSUE NORMANDIE AND QUEEN MARY The spirit of cordiality which exists between the Cunard White Star.Company and the Compagnie Gencrale Transatlantique in the friendly rivalry for the "blue riband" of the Atlantic which the Queen Mary may wrest from the Norrriandie was emphasised by M. M. Olivier, president of the French company, in considered replies which he gave to a number of questions on the aims of the two great liners, says a writer in "The Times." M. Olivier dismissed the assertion that the Normandie and the Queen Mary were built primarily for speed. To prove his argument he quoted the following from Sir Percy Bates's speech at the meeting of the Cunard Company on April 8, 1931:— "It would be easy to design a faster ship, but what the board had continually in mind was regularity of service in all weathers combined with the last word in safety and comfort for the passengers. It was possible that '534' ("the Queen Mary) would regain the 'blue riband'; nevertheless her speed (TA-ould not exceed that necessary for

the useful utilisation of the ship in service and her dimensions would not exceed those which the experts deemed necessary."

"That opinion," said M. Olivier, "is shared by the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique; and there is another indication of similarity in aim and ambition in the fact that the British and French engineers did not confer or collaborate in any way before planning the Queen Mary and the Normandie. What they aimed at, quite independently, was not an Atlantic speed record but the saving of one day in the average time taken by other ships in crossing to the United States. In trying to reduce the average time of five days the British and French engineers arrived independently at the conclusion that only a vessel of the dimensions of the Queen Mary or the Normandie could possibly achieve that ambition and be at the same time a commercial success. MAXIMUM OF COMFORT.

"I insist, therefore, that the question of speed only was never the first consideration in the building of these big ships. The sole aim was to build a vessel that would be able to cross the Atlantic regularly in less than five days with a maximum of comfort to passengers and the highest commercial return. It is in expert opinion impossible for ships with lower tonnages than the Queen Mary and Normandie to accomplish ihis feat."

M. Olivier added that, while he could not prophesy progress in marine engineering and naval architecture or foretell if ships of the future would be able to cross the Atlantic in three days, it seemed to him that progress could not now be hindered, and that with the saving of a day by the Queen Mary and the Normandie it would be vain to try to resist the present immense appetite for speed. He was convinced, however, that any future attempt to achieve a still further reduction in the time taken to cross the Atlantic would be governed by the same principles that went to the building of the Queen Mary and the Normandie and not by the ambition to perform a spectacular feat. It was pointed out to M. Olivier that, though shipping circles in Britain might not be attaching great importance to the "blue riband" of the Atlantic, the British public generally had become extremely interested in the subject, and would be disappointed if the Queen Mary did not regain the honour which for some years had been held in turn by Italy, Germany; and now France. Was France prepared to put up a fight to hold the "blue riband"? he was asked. "Speaking for my company," said M. Olivier, "we are absolutely opposed to any race for the 'blue riband'—and I feel sure that British shipping circles share our view. I have already said that the Normandie was not built for record breaking; we shall, of course, be extremely satisfied if she retains her Atlantic honour, for that would be a very high tribute to French engineers and shipbuilders. But if she does retain the honour she will do so as she is now and not by the addition of any new machinery. If, on the other hand, the Queen Mary wins the 'blue riband' we will be among the first to congratulate British shipbuilders." U.S.A. AND SMALLER SHIPS. "By the way," added M. Olivier, "it should not be forgotten that the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique and the Cunard White Star Line have signed an agreement which stipulates that the Normandie and the Queen Mary shall have weekly sailing schedules, which will avoid the possibility of their meeting while they are going in the same direction. That agreement is another indication of a complete understanding between the two companies on the question of speed." . ~ Referring to the utility of big liners and the apparent determination of the United States to place faith in smaller vessels, M. Olivier said that the US.A., in being satisfied with ships like the Manhattan and the Washington, were not necessarily opposed to the British and French claims of the big vessels. The Compagnie Generale Transatlantique and the Cunard White Star Line had also ships of the American type—namely, Champlain, Lafayette, Britannic, and Georgic. The difference lay not in the size of the ships but in the travellers to be carried in them. The Queen Mary and the Normandie and the smaller ships had each their public, and there was a demand in Atlantic travel, he hoped, for both classes of vessels. It had been proved that the fast and luxuriously equipped ships, which were the costliest to run, had never failed to win their full share of success.

Asked for his opinion on the proposed sister-ship of the Queen Mary, he said he was prepared to leave that matter to the wisdom of the Cunard White Star Line, who, he was sure, would decide to build only if the needs of transatlantic traffic demanded it, or if the scrapping of old vessels justified another Queen Mary- He was aware that a sister-ship, if built, would be designed to enable the Cunard White Star Line to establish a regular weekly Atlantic service in both directions. Had the Compagnie Gencrale Transatlantique a similar ambition? he was asked. "The fleet of our company," said M. Olivier, "is very young; it is the youngest fleet on the North Atlantic. Excepting the fifteen-year-old Paris, which was rebulit in 1929, our oldest ship is the He de France, which is only eight and a half years old. In view of these facts, and so far as the North Atlantic is concerned, our company is not at present considering any new ships whatever."