Queen Mary’s Wartime Service

Cockatoo Island in 2025. The dockyard workers were shipped over to the main harbour to work on Queen Mary as she was too large to fit under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Queen Mary made her last peacetime voyage from Southampton on 30 August 1939. On arrival in New York, the ship was berthed in the relative safety of the US port, while World War II commenced in Europe.

Queen Mary remained in New York until early 1940, when the British Admiralty decided the role the ship would play in the coming months and years. Queen Mary would become a troop carrier.

Queen Mary sailed for Sydney where the ship was converted into the world’s largest troop carrier, a role she held until surpassed by Queen Elizabeth.

Parts of Queen Mary’s Art Deco interior were carefully removed and stored. The refit included alterations made to the ship to boost her trooping capacity. Externally, the ship was painted grey. Later, a degaussing coil was added to de-magnify the hull.

The Conversion of Queen Mary

During the conversion, Queen Mary’s large First Class dining room became the main mess hall. It was selected due to its large size. Officers were fed in the smaller Tourist Class dining room. The majority of Queen Mary’s cabins didn’t have private bathrooms, so the shared bathroom facilities were enlarged. The galleys were also enlarged to accommodate the increased human capacity.

Structurally, both Queens were altered with reinforced protective covers on the bridge windows. Sandbags were utilised aboard to protect vulnerable areas. The Admiralty also oversaw the installation of degaussing coils to reduce the risk of contact with sea mines.

The two Cunard Queens were fitted with anti-aircraft guns, though in reality their speed of over 30 knots was their primary defence against enemy attack.

At the end of the Sydney conversion, undertaken by the Cockatoo Drydock Workers, Queen Mary was able to carry up to 10,000 troops. Queen Elizabeth joined Queen Mary on trooping services in 1940, and the two huge ships sailed in convoys with other requisitioned ocean liners, including Aquitania.

Transatlantic Wartime Service of Queen Mary

When the United States entered World War II, the Cunard Queens were redeployed to the North Atlantic troop service. Their huge size made them perfect to aid in preparations for the D-Day landings. As the need to move troops increased, both ships were altered to boost their carrying capacity even further. Following the refit, both Queens regularly transported over 15,000 people per crossing.

Queen Mary holds the record to this day of the most people carried aboard a ship: 16,683 people in a single crossing. This feat was achieved on a voyage undertaken in 1943.

It was this massive trooping impact, and the advantage it gave the Allied war effort, that led Sir Winston Churchill to acknowledge the two Queens as having helped to shorten the war. Churchill said:

“Built for the arts of peace and to link the old world with the new, the queens challenged the fury of Hitlerism in the battle of the Atlantic. Without their aid, the day of final victory must unquestionably have been postponed.”

Churchill also acknowledged the Queens’ contribution in a letter to Cunard’s Chairman, Sir Percy Bates, noting:

“Without their aid, the day of final victory must unquestionably have been postponed.”

Queen Mary Custom Print

This new range of custom prints from The Cruise Maps is created in partnership with Cunard and marine illustrator Marc-Antoine Bombail. A complete collection of seven scale portraits spans 90 years of Cunard history, from Queen Mary (1936) to Queen Anne (2024).

We’ve known Marc-Antoine for decades and have always admired his wonderful artwork. We are proud to offer a 10% discount code in affiliation with The Cruise Maps.

Simply use the code “ChrisFrameOfficial” at checkout. Browse the collection here.

Note: This is an affiliate code, meaning if you buy these prints you get a 10% discount and we get a small commission at no cost to you.

Learn More

To learn about how the Queens impacted the Allied war effort, check out this video below: