So...what about the Queen Mary 2? Is that ship named after Queen Mary II (of William & Mary, 1689-1694)? No. The current QM2 is named after the RMS Queen Mary - the original ship. The hint here is the Cunard liner is the "Queen Mary 2" -not- the "Queen Mary II". So that leads us to the QE2. Who (or what) was that named after? That ship is named after the original RMS Queen Elizabeth (1938-1969) that sailed alongside the original RMS Queen Mary. And that ship was named after Queen Elizabeth, not the sovereign but the (future) Queen Mother! The QE2 replaced both the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary in 1969. To really confuse things, the current Cunard ship Queen Elizabeth is just the QE - even though she is the third Cunarder to have that name. Why not QE3? It probably just sounds better! Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II (the reigning queens) has not yet had a ship named after them. Oh...but what about the Queen Victoria? Yes, they kept that simple. Its named after the human Queen Victoria! Confused? Yes, no? Don't worry, there is still time to have ships named after Queen Mary I, Queen Mary II, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth II, and Queen Anne. Just one more thing - in 2016 the Royal Navy will launch the HMS Queen Elizabeth a new aircraft carrier. That ship is named after Queen Elizabeth I....
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Last week I visited the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. I'm going to post some pictures here. Its a great ship to explore and I highly recommend you visit it if you are in the Los Angeles area. She was built in 1934 and sailed until 1967 for the Cunard Line (at that time it was still the Cunard-White Star line after the merger). During WWII she served as a troop transport ship and known as "The Grey Ghost". There is a lot of great information here so I don't want to just repeat what is already out there on the internet. One of the most interesting stories about the ship however is its name. I always thought the RMS Queen Mary was named after Queen Mary I of England. But, this is not true. The ship is actually named after Queen Mary, the wife of King George V (the monarch at the time of the ship's launching). The story goes (never confirmed) that the Cunard-White Star wanted to name the ship Queen Victoria. They asked the king if they could name the ship after Britain's "greatest queen" and the king stated that his wife would be very happy. Oops! As it was probably not wise to upset the king and explain that they meant Queen Victoria, they just went along with it. Now I'm not sure if this was true or not but there are several sources that verify the story. Plus, Cunard tradition has been to name their ships with an "-ia" ending (Aquitania...Mauretania...Lusitania) so "Victoria" does make sense. Either way, it is an interesting story! ![]() Today we honor St. George - patron saint of England. England's flag (seen here) is called The Cross of St. George and is a simple flag with a long history. While the origin of the flag is often disputed, it can be traced back to at least 1277 but really did not gain national status until the 16th century. It is said that the symbol of a red cross on white is from the Crusades and represented England. Interestingly, the Pope gave that symbol to the French and gave the English a white cross on a red field. In 1188, they switched their symbols and the English started using the red cross on white. The symbol eventually became a flag. The flag was used until 1606 when it was merged with Scotland's flag to form the first Union Flag. However, the Cross of St. George was still used extensively at sea and as such would have been the first English flag flown in what would later be the United States. Although the current version of the Union Flag represents the combined kingdoms of England, Scotland, and (Northern) Ireland, the Cross of St. George still represents England. It is still a valid flag and is still seen flying over the UK. Just don't fly this flag at sea - that right belongs to the Royal Navy only. We purchased a great version of this flag from this site. They were hand stitched in the UK using a thick polyester weave (not the same material as those really cheep polyester flags). We were very pleased with these flags. Today is the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the TITANIC with the loss of 1,503 people. When we tend to look at the passengers and crew, numbers and statistics can often be misleading. I have often seen statements that while technically true, do not tell the whole story. For example, it is true to state that "more men survived than women" but you have to look at the percentage saved. Yes, 325 men were saved vice 316 women saved, but the survival rate of men was 20% compared to 75% for women. There were simply much more men on the ship (1,657) (75% of those on board) than women (422). The key here is the percentage saved, not numbers. Using information from the book "Titanic Names" by Lee W. Merideth (Rocklin Press, 2011), I have put together the data below to try to bring this tragedy into perspective. I hope the graphs and charts will make it easier to understand and visualize. I want to let the numbers speak for themselves without going into a long study. No matter how much research we do concerning those on board, we always have to remember that those on board were people - there are lives behind these numbers and percentages. May they rest in peace and never be forgotten. You may have noticed a new sticker we are offering with "MGY" on it. What does that mean and what does it have to do with the TITANIC?? The ship had two Marconi wireless operators (Radio Officers): John Phillips and Harold Bride. They were employed by Marconi and not the White Star Line. Marconi assigned radio callsigns to their radio stations (either on land or at sea) and initally gave TITANIC "MUC". This was later changed to "MGY". Radio callsigns were shorthand for the name of the ship. Since back then messages were sent via Morse Code, typing out a three letter code (now four letters) was a lot easier and quicker than "TITANIC" or "EMPRESS OF IRELAND". Most of Marconi's call signs began with "M" but this was later changed (after TITANIC) to give each nation a series of letters to identify the country of origin. The UK retained "G" and "M". The US gave "N" to naval, Coast Guard, or public vessels and "K" and "W" to merchant ships.
TITANIC sent out its distress message as: "CQD DE MGY". "CQD" was a distress signal to all vessels, "DE" means "this is" (still in use today in radio communications), and "MGY" identified the station as TITANIC. In Morse Code, it would have sounded like this: -- - -- - / -- -- - -- / -- - - // -- - - / - // -- -- / -- -- - / -- - -- -- For more information concerning TITANIC's radio operations, this is a great website! It really goes into great detail and is an interesting read. ![]() The history of the United Kingdom's flags is very interesting and can take up a significant study. Here we are only going to talk about the British Blue Ensign. In 1652, Admiral Blake reorganized the Royal Navy into three squadrons: Red, White, and Blue (the original rank order). The rank order was later changed (how it is today) to White, Blue, Red. Up until 1864, the Blue Ensign was flown by the Blue Squadron of the Royal Navy. Each squadron flew a different flag to identify which one they belonged to and each squadron had their own admirals. So, the Admiral of the White outranked an Admiral of the Red. In 1864, it all changed. The White Ensign was to be used only - and by all - Royal Navy vessels. The Blue Ensign was reserved for Royal Navy Auxiliary/Reserve vessels and civil ships. The Red Ensign was to be used by merchant ships. The Blue Ensign was also granted, via a warrant, to a merchant ship in which the master (captain) was a member of the Royal Naval Reserve and a certain percentage (has changed through history) of the crew were also in the reserves. It was a mark of distinction, an honor, as it is today. In the case of the RMS TITANIC, Captain Smith was a commodore in the RNR and all the other deck officers (except 3rd Officer Pitman) were members of the RNR. So, the TITANIC was permitted to fly the British Blue Ensign and this was the flag flying when she left port for the last time. See these sites for more information: British Ensign History, British Ensigns, Blue Ensign, and Blue Ensign Regulations. We are now selling a small (12" x 18") version of this flag in our store. We are just a few days away from the 100th Anniversary of the maiden voyage. Here is a short list of TV shows planned:
Apr 1 - 10pm - PBS - "Saving the Titanic" Apr 5 - 8pm - Smithsonian Ch - "Titanic's Final Mystery" Apr 8 - 8pm - NatGeo - "Final Word with James Cameron" Apr 9 - 10pm - NatGeo - "Saving Titanic with Bob Ballard" Apr 10 - 8pm - PBS - "Titanic with Len Goodman" Apr 14 - 8pm - ABC - "Titanic" miniseries (2 hrs each night) Apr 15 - 8pm - ABC - "Titanic" miniseries conclusion Video is available by NatGeo and Smithsonian. 1st April 1912: Captain Edward J. Smith arrives in Belfast and signs on as Titanic's master (replacing Haddock). Sea trials delayed due to high winds. Perhaps tomorrow?
One of our recent customers is related to Sir Hayes and retold his story. We thought it was just too amazing to pass up! Sir Bertram Fox Hayes was captain of several White Star Line ships including the Adriatic during 1912 when he returned the surviving Titanic crew members following the NY investigative hearings. He was also the captain of the Olympic from 1915 through the early twenties and carried troops from the US and Canada to France. As a Captain in the Royal Naval Reserve, he was promoted to Commodore (first time a merchant officer ever received that honor). Hayes was employed by the White Star Line beginning in 1889 and retired in 1924 from the command of the Majestic (formally Bismark) the largest liner at that time in the world. When in command of the Olympic, he rammed and sank the "U-103" in the English Channel in May 1918. The Olympic was carrying 5,000 American troops and he was "knighted" for his efforts. He also was awarded the gold lifesaving medal from France for saving the crew members of a French cruiser that had sunk in the Med. during WW1. (this actually saved him from a court martial as he shouldn't have stopped the Olympic to save them. But that's another story). He authored a book (his autobiography) called "Hull Down: Reminiscences of Windjammers, Troops and Travelers". See his history here. and picture/awards. He also testified at the Titanic Inquiry.
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