Overview For thirty-one years, the RMS Queen Mary sailed the North Atlantic. It helped defeat Hitler and was the ship of choice for the world's rich and famous. Now in retirement in the Port of Long Beach, the "Stateliest Ship Afloat" plays host to tourists, travelers and more than six hundred spirits that roam her halls and passageways. These choice decks remain the floating home of a few regulars, including the oft-glimpsed White Lady, as well as Little Jackie, John Henry and, of course, Grumpy. Join paranormal investigators Brian Clune and Bob Davis as they take you to the hot spots of activity from port to starboard and relate tales from the dockside about the spirits that haunt the grandest liner ever built. Meet the Authors Brian Clune's son asked if they could go "ghost hunting," and Brian's life changed forever when he became involved in Planet Paranormal, leading to such television shows as My Ghost Story, The Dead Files and Ghost Hunters. Clune was the focus of a companion documentary for the film Paranormal Asylum by Meridien Films. He has participated in radio programs as well as given lectures at paranormal conventions. Clune lives in Southern California. Bob Davis is a commercial real estate investor by day and a paranormal researcher by night. Bob co-owns Planet Paranormal Radio, Planet Paranormal Investigations and Queen Mary Shadows with partners Ash Blackwell and Brian Clune. Davis has been on more than 35 radio broadcasts and featured in several books and documentary films. He has been published in the New York Daily News and other publications, and has appeared on Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures and My Ghost Story. An American medium, paranormal researcher, television personality and public speaker, Christopher Fleming has written numerous articles and produced various print and online publications on paranormal activity and psychic phenomena. Fleming has appeared on paranormal-themed television programs and is best known as co-host of the British television series "Dead Famous" (2004-06), which aired in America on the Biography Channel. Fleming was the co-host and featured psychic on A&E's "Psychic Kids." Ghosts of the Queen Mary By Brian Clune, Bob Davis The History Press Copyright © 2014 Brian Clune with Bob Davis All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-62619-314-7 Contents Foreword, by Christopher Fleming, Acknowledgements, 1. The Queen Is Crowned, 2. The Gray Ghost Rises, 3. The Queen's Golden Age, 4. The Voyage Home, 5. The Re-berth of a Legend, 6. The Hauntings, 7. The Hot Spots, 8. Tales from the Dockside, Epilogue, A Tribute to Peter James, by Frank Beruecos, Bibliography, About the Authors, CHAPTER 1 THE QUEEN IS CROWNED RMS Queen Mary. You will be hard-pressed to find someone in this world who has not heard of this magnificent ship. If asked, they will tell you that she was a passenger liner from a long time ago, or that she is a hotel somewhere in California, or that she is "that haunted ship" they saw on TV. They may tell you that she is like the Titanic or that she is smaller than her older cousin (which she is not), but if you ask them to tell you about the things this ship did or why she is now a tourist attraction, you will most likely get a blank stare. For all her fame and notoriety, people still do not know or understand the Queen Mary 's place in history or why it is so important to keep her story alive for the generations that follow us or for those spirits that remain to this day on board the "Stateliest Ship Afloat." After World War I ended, the North Atlantic passenger trade heated up between the European nations, and Cunard was at the forefront of this new battle. Still sailing its prewar ships but seeing new and faster liners coming from Germany and France, Cunard quickly began designing replacements for its older fleet. It was decided that two large, fast ships would be more economical than the current fleet of smaller vessels, so Cunard sought out perhaps the best shipbuilding company of the day to help design and build its new massive liners, John Brown & Company Shipbuilders. On December 1, 1930, the first keel plate was laid on job #534, and while not yet known, history itself was being built in the now famous shipyard. Work progressed well on the vessel until the economies of the world began to slow, and when Black Tuesday hit, all work on the ship ceased. Thousands of shipbuilders were laid off, but two of those men working on job #534 were not seen for three years after the work stopped. Over the intervening years, Cunard worked diligently to get its newest vessel built. Its three aging liners were still in relatively good shape, but the cost of maintenance was exorbitant in the Depression years, and passengers were scarce. Cunard begged the British government for an infusion of money to continue its work, but the Crown wanted Cunard to ally itself with its chief rival, White Star Line, in a bid to save