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Article: RETURN OF THE QUEEN; The world's greatest ocean liner lies stricken by debt in a California harbour, but an audacious plan is underway to repatriate her to the river of her birth.
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- November 18, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: JIM MCBETH
WHEN the Queen Mary steamed into New York harbour for the first time, the city's inhabitants cheered like children as a flotilla of boats trailed the liner like sparrows caught in the wake of an eagle. Her size and grandeur were unprecedented.
The Great Lady's three 'whistles', each weighing a ton and audible for ten miles, signalled the heyday of luxury ocean travel.
It is now 70 years since her four-day maiden voyage from Southampton to the U.S. - during which she consumed her three million gallons of crude oil fuel at the astonishing rate of a gallon every 13ft.
For the following three decades, the ship, which ...