THE QUEEN MARY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18596, 5 January 1935, Page 14

THE QUEEN MARY

SPEED SCHEDULE INTERNATIONAL CONTEST ATLANTIC SUPREMACY LONDON, Nov. 15. The time schedule now being prepared for the giant liner Queen Mary will mark an epoch in marine history. According to a'recent announcement the ship, *on her maiden voyage and all subsequent crossings, will cover the 3100 mile's between Cherbourg and New York in 06 hours, at an average speed of i'ty knots. This will be four miles an hour faster than the average for the fastest Atlantic, crossing ever made. AH England, and indeed the whole world, will vatcli with interest and excitement the first trans-Atlantic crossing

of thei queen of the seas (as the Queen Mary may be known). Long before she is completed her French rival Normandie —another masterpiece of contraction —will probably have set up a new speed record, and every effort will accordingly have to be made to break ' that' record. It is hardly too much to say that failure would be disastrous, for the prestige of the British mercantile marine and of 'British engineers and designers depends upon success. The present record is held by the Italian : liner Rex, which covered the 3181 miles from Gibraltar to New York ih,,ifour days 13 hours, at an average . speed 0f,28.32 knots. The North German Lloyd hner Bremen,ran this figure very close last- week when she crossed frojn Cherbourg-to New York in four days 15 hours. But both the Queen Mary and the Normandie are expected to reduce 'he time of the voyage to a bare four days, except on * occasions when they are unavoidably delayed by thick fogs. So closely guarded, however, are the secrets of the Normandie's probable performances, that it will remain to be seen whether her expected record-'can. be broken by hours or only by minutes, though broken it must be. "TURN-ROUND" IN 12 HOURS Arrival at and departure of the Queen Mary from Southampton, Cherbourg, and New York will be so timed as to leave only a margin of minutes for unforeseen delays—a course «iade possible only .by the fact that this mighty ship will have a maximum speed of 35 knots, and' consequently an adequate reserve of power. ' Actually the exact hour of her arrival in New York will be announced before she leaves Cherbourg, and vice versa. Shore and shipboard organisation is to be brought to a stage of proficiency :iiever known before. It will be so efficient that only 12 hours will be allowed for the "turn-round" at each port of destination. That is to say, the liher,wiil chsemLark and embark her passengers, refuel her multiple oil tanks (containing in all some 6300 tons), revictual; and sail again within a period of 12 hours. The Queen Mary is at present in the fitting-basin at Clydebank, where the machinery Is being installed. So gigantic are the v.-.uous parts that they have to, be hoisted separately into the hull and reassembled in the engine and Boiler rooms, in which hundreds of men are; Working night and day. This process will occupy several months, for it must be accomplished with the utmost care' and precision. " " SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Among the arrangements for the safety ai the >eii>el are a system of-tue detection tiad. alarm, and a ileet of motor life-boats that will be carried in gravity davits so designed that each boat can be launched oy one man. So thorough .-'will, be the fire apparatus that apy. signs of an incipient outbreak in any section jf the ship will be automatically" recorded by instruments on the 'bridge. As to, the 1 risks arising from collision, the double-shell system adopted in the construction of the hull should render the liner practically unsinkable. Considerable areas of the outer skin conld be penetrated or torn away withoui ? drop of water leaking through. ■British and American architects have been' engaged to supervise the decoration of the public rooms and cabins so that the best features of both schools may be incorporated. The owners probably feel that, as so many of the passengers will be Americans, some concession should be made to their ideas of what is ornate and comfortable. The general effect, therefore, is expected to he quiet and dignified rather than flamboyant, as is usually the case in liners of Continental origin.