Editing RMS Queen Mary (section)

==Construction and naming==
[[File:RMS Queen Mary (1936) (51022313917).jpg|thumb|left|Scale models of ''Queen Mary'' (foreground) and ''Queen Elizabeth'' (background) created by John Brown & Company, on display at the Glasgow Museum of Transport.]]
With [[Weimar Germany]] launching {{SS|Bremen|1928|2}} and {{SS|Europa|1930|2}} into service, the [[United Kingdom]] and its shipping companies did not want to be left behind in the shipbuilding race. [[White Star Line]], Cunard's chief British rival, began construction on the 80,000-ton ''[[Oceanic (unfinished ship)|Oceanic]]'' in 1928, while Cunard planned a 75,000-ton unnamed ship. Cunard's Chief Naval Architect, George Mcleod Paterson, was the principal designer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=George Mcleod Paterson – Graces Guide |url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/George_Mcleod_Paterson |access-date=26 April 2024 |website=www.gracesguide.co.uk}}</ref>
[[File:Queen Mary Construction.jpg|thumb|left|''Queen Mary'' under construction at Clydebank, c. 1934]]
Construction on the ship, then known only as "Hull Number 534",<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Four-Leaf Clover Propeller to Drive Giant Liner 534|magazine=[[Popular Mechanics]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xd8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA528|date=October 1934|page=528|issn=0032-4558|access-date=10 September 2012}}</ref> began in December 1930 on the [[River Clyde]] by the [[John Brown & Company]] [[shipyard]] at [[Clydebank]] in Scotland. Work halted in December 1931 due to the [[Great Depression]] and Cunard applied to the British Government for a loan to complete 534. The Government granted the loan, providing enough money to complete the unfinished ship, and also to build a running mate to provide a two ship weekly service to New York.<ref name="OConnor">
{{cite web |author=O'Connor, Sheila |year=2006 |title=Royal Lady – The Queen Mary Reigns in Long Beach |url=http://www.goworldtravel.com/ex/aspx/articleGuid.%7B7AD7D421-D5F8-473E-A0AF-1E3B6BD56A9B%7D/xe/article.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907214519/http://www.goworldtravel.com/ex/aspx/articleGuid.%7B7AD7D421-D5F8-473E-A0AF-1E3B6BD56A9B%7D/xe/article.htm |archive-date=7 September 2008 |access-date=11 June 2013 |website=Go World Travel Magazine}}</ref>

One condition of the loan was that Cunard merge its operations with the White Star Line,<ref name="qm-depression">{{cite web|url=https://chrisframe.com.au/post/621332322015412224/rms-queen-mary-great-depression|title=Queen Mary – The Ship That Saved Cunard (and the UK) during the Great Depression.|author=Chris Frame|website=Chris Frame (Maritime Historian)|year=2019|access-date=19 June 2020}}</ref> which was also struggling due to the depression and had canceled construction of its ''Oceanic''. Both lines agreed to the merger, and, on 10 May 1934, the companies created a third company, [[Cunard-White Star Line]], to manage their newly combined fleet. Work on 534 resumed immediately with a launch scheduled for 1934. Prior to the ship's launch, the [[River Clyde]] had to be specifically deepened and widened to cope with her size, undertaken by the engineer [[D. Alan Stevenson]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst955.html|title=D. Alan Stevenson from The Gazetteer for Scotland|website=www.scottish-places.info}}</ref>

On 26 September 1934, Her Majesty [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] launched Hull 534 as [[Royal Mail Ship|RMS]] ''Queen Mary''. Eighteen drag chains slowed the ship down the [[slipway]], which checked the liner's progress into the River Clyde.<ref>
{{cite magazine |date=December 1934 |title=Chains brake liner at launching |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uigDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20 |access-date=2 November 2009 |magazine=[[Popular Science]] |page=20 |issn=0161-7370}}</ref> The ship was named after [[Mary of Teck]]. Until her launch, the name was a closely guarded secret. Cunard intended to name the ship ''[[Queen Victoria (ship)|Victoria]]'', in keeping with company tradition of giving its ships names ending in "ia", but when company representatives asked King [[George V]]'s permission to name the ocean liner after Britain's "greatest queen", he said his wife, Mary, would be delighted.<ref name="cross288-289">{{cite book |last=Maxtone-Graham |first=John |title=The Only Way to Cross |publisher=Collier Books |year=1972 |location=New York |pages=360-361}}</ref> Accordingly, the delegation had no other choice but to report that 534 would be called ''Queen Mary''.<ref name="cross288-289" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Othfors |first=Daniel |date=May 2018 |title=Queen Mary – TGOL |url=http://thegreatoceanliners.com/articles/queen-mary/ |access-date=10 June 2022 |website=Thegreatoceanliners.com}}</ref><ref name="Note01" group="Note" /> The name had already been given to the [[Clyde steamer|Clyde turbine steamer]] {{ship|TS|Queen Mary}}, so Cunard made an arrangement with its owners and this older ship was renamed ''Queen Mary II''.<ref name="Baldwin2010">{{cite book |author=David Baldwin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DZlsPleCSsC&pg=PA20 |title=Royal Prayer: A Surprising History |publisher=[[A&C Black]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8264-2303-0 |page=20}}</ref>

Following her launch, workers began fitting out the ''Queen Mary.'' She received 24 Yarrow boilers in four boiler rooms and four Parsons turbines in two engine rooms. The boilers delivered 400 pounds per square inch (28 bar) steam at 700&nbsp;°F (371&nbsp;°C), which provided a maximum of {{convert|212,000|shp|abbr=on}} to four propellers, each turning at 200 RPM.<ref>Watton, pp. 12–13.</ref>

Workers completed most of ''Queen Mary's'' work by March 1936 and she left Clydebank for her sea trials.<ref>'RMS ''Queen Mary'' Transatlantic masterpiece', Janette  McCutcheon, 2000, Temple Publishing Limited, {{ISBN|0-7524-1716-9}}, pp. 41–44.</ref> During those trials, she achieved a speed of 32.84 knots.<ref>McCutcheon, p.45</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-1936-illustrated-london-news-rms-queen-mary-on-speed-trials-off-the-166998544.html |title=1936 Illustrated London News RMS Queen Mary on Speed Trials off the Isle of Aaron Stock Photo – Alamy |website=www.alamy.com}}</ref> She then prepared for her maiden voyage. The {{convert|1019.4|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|LOA]] ''Queen Mary'' measured {{GRT|80,774|disp=long}}, making her the world's largest passenger ship.<ref>
{{cite web |last=Layton |first=J. Kent |title=R.M.S. Queen Mary |url=http://www.atlanticliners.com/rms_queen_mary_home.htm |access-date=10 September 2012 |publisher=Atlantic Liners}}</ref> Her rival {{SS|Normandie||2}}, was {{convert|1029|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} LOA, but only measured 79,280 GRT. However, [[Compagnie Générale Transatlantique|CGT]] later modified the ''Normandie'' to  increase her size to 83,243 GRT, reclaiming the title of world's largest passenger ship.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ardman |first=Harvey |title=Normandie: her life and times |date=1985 |publisher=F. Watts |isbn=978-0-531-09784-7 |location=New York |pages=166–170}}</ref> Completion of ''Queen Mary'' ultimately took {{frac|3|1|2}} years and cost 3.5 million [[pound sterling|pounds sterling]],<ref name="OConnor" /> then equal to [[US dollars|$17.5 million]] (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|17500000|1934|r=-7}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).