After completion, and brief trials to establish that her engines and other systems were functioning correctly, the Queen Mary arrived in Southampton for the start of her maiden voyage to New York.
Between May 21 and May 23, 15,000 people paid five shillings each to be shown around the new ship. The proceeds were donated to seamen's charities. Thousands of people came to see the ship leave on May 27, and not only lined the shore as she left, but the Queen Mary was followed for sometime by a flotilla of small boats. Passengers were given souvenirs of the voyage, but many preferred to take their own, and every ashtray disappeared on the ship. These are just some of the items loaded for the maiden voyage:
...and so, so much more. On this voyage, the ship also carried £2.5 million worth of gold bullion.
All was not perfect though. The main problems were to do with the ship herself. Firstly, the Queen Mary rolled from side to side a lot more than had been expected, and it was only now realised that there were no handrails for passengers to grab onto in the corridors. They had simply not been thought necessary: the models in wave tanks had not rolled. After a few voyages, workmen traveled on the ship to fit handrails to the corridors and to bolt down heavy furniture. The rolling problem was finally cured in 1956. One crewman (probably sober) reported a roll in a particularly bad storm (on a later voyage) of 44 degrees from vertical! That means you could walk with one foot on the wall and one on the floor.
Originally, no handrails were fitted in the corridors. Contrast this with today on the right
An engine problem arose at the beginning of the voyage. Some of the turbine blades had broken and come loose, and the damage was serious. The problem was the same in each of the four turbines. Nevertheless, the Queen Mary ran to New York before the matter was dealt with, but she attempted no records.
Another problem was a mysterious and very bad vibration at the stern of the vessel. The cure for this was to be expensive, with different propellers having to be designed, and strengthening posts needed between the decks. Some of the public rooms at the stern had to be rebuilt.
A flotilla of small craft met the Queen Mary in New York
In New York, the Queen Mary was met by a flotilla of small craft. After docking, she was again invaded by sightseers, this time paying a dollar each to charity. Everything that was not nailed down disappeared. One woman was arrested as she tried to take down a painting. The Queen Mary left to return to Southampton on Friday 5 June, 1936. The service had begun.
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