Turbine Steamer Queen Mary II

These pictures were taken in the early seventies, just after taking a trip on her. I don't seem to have taken any pictures on board.
T.S. Queen Mary II Turbine Steamer Queen Mary II. Built by Denny's yard in 1933, she was originally called Queen Mary. When the liner Queen Mary was launched in 1935, she gave up her name as a gesture of goodwill, becoming Queen Mary II. Powered by Steam Turbines. She started off with two funnels, but this was changed to one 'modern' one in 1957.
A beautiful elegant craft.
Here she is, silently gliding over an unusually calm Clyde, off Gourock.
For those of you who have never travelled on a vessel powered by a steam turbine, it is difficult to conceive how quiet, how free from vibration she was. I remember standing on her deck, watching Gourock pier slip away, and reflecting on Einstein's thought experiment about relative motion. There was nothing to indicate that we were the ones moving.
Waiting at the pier. Lovely graceful ship.
As a kid, I preferred the paddle steamers to the turbine craft, since the engines were visible on the paddlers, but as I got older, and began to understand about engineering matters, I started to appreciate how this aging ship could glide on its way with no fuss, no smoke, just silent power.
I never managed to get on an ocean liner. I guess it must have been like that.
She had the lines of a liner, too.
Something a bit strange about the bow in this picture, though. 		Queen Mary II at Gourock Pier
The bow of Queen Mary II Yes, the bows had received involuntary modification.
When we took this, she was suffering from the effects of a slight collision. (with a pier, I think).
Years went by, and I took this shot on a different occasion.
Here she is, bow mended and looking very smart in the new livery of Caledonian MacBrayne.
The seagulls are clustering round her stern - a sure sign of a prosperous boat on the Clyde. Things were looking up for Queen Mary II (that's alway useful when gulls are around).

This shot was taken off Largs in the mid Seventies.

I haven't seen her since.
 Queen Mary II off Largs
Most of the Clyde Steamers went to the Breakers Yard.
A small percentage became floating restaurants.
Just one survives as a fully functioning, seagoing steamer.
Click on her image, to see the fate of T.S Queen Mary II.
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