We spend a few days in December on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA where it is now docked after being a luxury ocean liner and troop ship during WWII.  The Queen Mary, a luxury ocean liner built in 1936 but put into service in 1942 as a troop ship during WWII, was one of the fastest ships in the world.  She  was very useful during WWII because she could out-run the German submarines and torpedoes. And therefore she was never hit during her run in WWII.   My mother was on this ship when she returned from Europe after serving in Europe in WWII.  

We got a behind the scenes tour of the ship and talked with the Commodore (and historian) about the ship and my mother’s sailing.   It was an amazing and informative visit on the ship.