If you’re anything like me, when you hear “Queen Mary,” you immediately think of the ship, transformed into a hotel, in Long Beach, California. Reportedly haunted, the hotel boasts more than 150 spirits. While not violent, the ghosts still make their presence known.
The Queen Mary started out as “Hull Number 534” when construction began in December 1930. It was fitted with 24 Yarrow boilers in four boiler rooms and four Parsons turbines in two engine rooms. Queen Mary achieved 32.84 knots on her acceptance trials in early 1936.
The ship was named after Mary of Teck, consort of King George V. Legend has it that the original plan was to name the ship Victoria, in keeping with the company tradition of giving its ships names ending in “ia.” When company representatives asked the King’s permission to name the ocean liner after Britain’s “greatest Queen”, he said his wife, Mary of Teck, would be delighted. This story was (and still is) denied by company officials, and traditionally the names of sovereigns have only been used for capital ships of the Royal Navy.
The Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage on May 27, 1936 and won the Blue Riband that August. She lost the title to SS Normandie in 1937 and recaptured it in 1938, holding it until 1952, when it was taken by the new SS United States. With the outbreak of World War II, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers during the conflict.
After the war, The Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and along with the ship Queen Elizabeth commenced the two-ship transatlantic passenger service for which they were initially built. They dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late 1950s and by the mid-1960s, Queen Mary was aging and operating at a loss.
She ran for several years with decreasing profits until she was officially retired from service in 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she was permanently moored. The City of Long Beach bought the ship to serve as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum and a hotel.
Since then, the city contracted out management of the ship to various third-party firms over the years before taking back operational control in 2021 when the operator filed for bankruptcy and it was found that extensive repairs were needed to keep the ship from sinking.
Today, the Queen Mary is maintained as a hotel, museum, and event center. It hosts educational tours as well as haunted ones. Guests can “Dine” with the spirits or catch a show. Join a paranormal investigation, or just stay in a haunted room.
Here are some of the most notable haunts on the ship.
What was once a luxurious swimming pool, complete with an illuminated fountain, beautiful mosaic tiles, and a mother of pearl ceiling sits abandoned. The pool, no longer in use due to issues with the California code, is considered to be a hotbed of activity.
People have reportedly seen several ghosts in the area, including a woman in an old wedding gown next to the pool with a little boy in a suit. They have spotted a younger woman, wearing a tennis skirt, walking down the stairs before disappearing behind a pillar. Then there’s the little girl. Guests have reported seeing a cloud of steam appear out of nowhere along with a little girl in a blue and white dress, who disappears in an instant.
It is reported that a little girl drowned in the pool.
Other children can be heard laughing and crying in what was the third-class playroom and nursery.
In 1948, a British third-class passenger named Walter J. Adamson, passed away in stateroom B340. While details of his death are unknown, it is believed he still resides in the room. Guests have reported being woken when their bed covers were pulled off. One woman, in 1966, reported seeing a man standing at the foot of the bed. She screamed and rang for the steward, but the man mysteriously disappeared.
Guests have also reported hearing knocking on the door in the middle of the night, and have witnessed the bathroom lights turn on when no one was around. The bathroom doors have also been known to shut on their own. Even hotel maids have been known to complain that after days of the room being unoccupied, they will still enter to find the bathroom water running.
B340 was once three third-class staterooms, but was remodeled to be a single guest room suite.
What was once the ship’s beauty salon, and now used for offices, the Mayfair room has its own spirit. The story says that in 2001, a member of the accounting staff went in early for work – 5:30am early. As she went about her business, she felt that something was off. When she finally sat down at her desk, she noticed that it was unusually cold, but she continued working.
Then, sometime later, she felt someone brush up against the back of her chair. Turning around, there was no one there. Minutes later, she saw a transparent figure in white, walking across the room before passing through the door.
Then there’s the lounge, also known as the Mauritania room. Guests and employees have reported seeing a passenger in the middle of the room. One such story, from 1989 claims that two women, sent to clean the lounge for a VIP reception, found a passenger sitting on a chair in the middle of the dance floor.
When a third woman came in she too, saw the passenger, who now appeared to be staring. She asked the passenger to move, but when they didn’t the employees picked up the phone to call security. Then, before their eyes, the passenger faded.
Now, for rooms one might expect to be haunted, there’s the boiler room #4. Here people have reported seeing a little girl, who sometimes has a doll with her, and other times is seen sucking her thumb.
Hatch door #13, also known as Shaft Alley, was the site of a horrible accident. One night, in 1966, the watertight doors in the engine and boiler rooms were ordered to be closed. About five minutes later, an 18-year-old crew member from Yorkshire was found crushed in the door of Hatch #13. He was trapped with his arms pinned to his side.
He was freed and still alive, taken to the hospital ward. He showed obvious signs of the crushing injury on his arms, chest, and pelvis, and was bleeding from his nose. He was given an injection of morphine, but died shortly thereafter.
Unfortunately, the man never really left the ship. His ghost, spotted as the figure of a bearded man in blue coveralls can be seen from time to time. Several guests have reported seeing an engineer wandering the hallways asking guests if they’ve seen his wrench. When they look back to find him, he’s gone.
Other guests have noticed spots of grease appearing on their faces – grease that looks like fingerprints. They’ve even heard the sound of someone running behind them and whistling.
If you’d rather see for yourself, book a room, or a tour – or better yet, both.
Another must-see haunt is the Villisca Murder House in Villisca Iowa.
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