The Queen Mary’s “Sister”

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 3, 5 January 1937, Page 7

The Queen Mary’s “Sister”

INCREASED GROSS TONNAGE. LONDON, Dec. 9. Work on the laying of the 1000 ft. keel of the No. 552, sister-ship of the Queen Mary, began last week, and it is fully anticipated that the keel will be fully laid by the end of the year. A 24-hour shift is being worked. A new type of marine boiler has been evolved after months of secret tests in Messrs John Brown’s yard. It is expected that this will give a turn of speed greater than that of the Queen Mary. The Queen Mary has 27 boilers in five compartments. No. 552 will have 12 boilers in two compartments. Space thus saved will be used for cargo and tonnage, which means that the liner’s gross will be increased. The new boilers will be able to raise steam in a fraction of the time normally taken and at higher pressure than has ever been used in large ships. Each of the boilers weighs 240 tons, and will be built inside the ship’s hull after the launching, instead of in the sheds in the yard, as is usually done. No. 552, according to schedule, will be ready for launching in the autumn of 1938, and will go into service in the spring of 1940. By then nearly £4,000,000 in wages will have been earned directly or indirectly by 200,000 men. The new Cunarder will have a gross tonnage of nearly 90,000. The gross tonnage of the Queen Mary is 80,773.