To Members of HISTARCH:

        This oral history message will be of interest to all of you who plan on
attending SHA 2001 on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, Ca.

                                        RL Schuyler


Date: 17 Jul 2000 12:06:07 -0700
>Subject: Queen Mary
>From: "Herschel Davis" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>X-Mailer: Cyberdog/2.0
>X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by orion.sas.upenn.edu
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>
>P. O. Box 10771
>South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158-3771
>July 10, 2000
>
>Mr. Robert Schuyler
>Chair SHA Awards Committee 
>
>Dear Sir:
>
>I am an archaeologist and member of the SCA.  On reading the June
>ÒNewsletterÓ notice of the  January SHA meeting in Long Beach
>aboard the Queen Mary I was flooded with memories. For the sake of
>providing an anecdotal story about the Queen Mary that you might find
>interesting enough to pass on to your colleagues I submit the
>following:
>
>I am 80 Years of age (so what). I graduated from the Flying Cadet
>Program on July 26 of 1942, was commissioned 2nd Lt. Pilot and
>assigned to The 95th SQ. 17th Bomb Group. On September 26 I was among
>a small advance echelon of officers and men from the 17th who boarded
>the Queen Mary bound for Scotland then England.
>
>When I came out of the loading warehouse onto the gangway leading to
>the ship I, being a small town country boy from Coalinga CA, was
>simply stunned at how far ÒupÓ it was to the railing at the very
>top. Then I looked down and it seemed equally far down to the water.
>
>Being a very fast ship the Queen Mary was allowed to cross the
>Atlantic without an escort. Only fast destroyers could keep up with
>her anyway!  But, to keep all things somewhat safer, the ship when at
>sea would travel in a straight line for only 10 minutes maximum then
>would make a sudden, very sharp change in course to one side or
>another.  To prevent the stabilizing gyros from flying through the
>hull because of the inertial shift they were turned completely off.
>So, those turns, day and night, made for a choppy trip.  Those zigzags
>were based on the premise that if  a German Sub happened along it
>would take 10 minutes for it to get lined up. By then the ship would
>have changed course.
>
>Side  humor; one of  my Cadet upperclassmen , a fighter pilot, sneaked
>a puppy aboard. The pup let a small ÒblipperÓ on the deck and it
>began to roll from one side of the deck to another with the turns. So
>the dog began to chase it back and forth across the deck. I have no
>recollection of its catching the thing but if it had--oh what joy!. He
>used to take that pup on strafing missions over Tunisia. He got shot
>down and the last anyone saw of him was when he and the pup exited the
>plane, running like mad to get away before it exploded.
>
>I was assigned with my best buddy to room 76 on the Main Deck and
>shortly afterward learned what it was like to take a shower in salt
>water. Not conducive to anything but itchy skin much less cleanliness.
>
>At noon when we were off the north coast of Ireland and a half day out
>from our port of Guerrock(sp.) Scotland we were joined by a few fast
>escort ships. One came up alongside signaled the bridge and veered
>away.  Then, it made a fast turn back to try to cross ahead of us but
>didnÕt make it. The Queen Mary sliced through it like cheese. It
>sank so fast that fellows on the fantail were still sun bathing when
>it went under.  Over 200 men were lost and 35 saved.
>
>The Queen Mary suffered substantial damage to the port bow where
>several plates were peeled back.  The speed was reduced from well over
>20 knots to about 10-15 all the way in to the port.  That evening we
>were all assembled in the main dining room where the shipÕs  Captain
>told us that not only were we now in high danger of being sunk by a
>sub, but also that it would be a court martial offense for us to
>discuss the incident among ourselves and especially with people on
>shore.
>
>We arrived in port early next morning and were immediately put on a
>troop train to a small village near Cambridge, taking about a day and
>a half.  To our astonishment the folks who picked us up wanted to know
>if we had been on the Queen Mary when it had the collision.  It seems
>that either Lord Haw Haw or Axis Sally had already reported the
>incident to the world on German radio.  So much for secrecy!!
>
>I should add that the Queen Mary was sent back to Boston, unescorted,
>for repairs and made it. The British ports were subject to constant
>air raids so they couldnÕt risk having her bombed while trying to
>repair her in Scotland.
>
>Hope this is of interest to you and anyone else who reads it.
>
>Sincerely yours,
>
>
>Herschel Davis
>Archaeologist
>Major USAFR Ret..
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------
>Herschel D. Davis
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>
Robert L. Schuyler
University of Pennsylvania Museum
33rd & Spruce Streets
Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324

Tel: (215) 898-6965
Fax: (215) 898-0657
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