Hi, Pete:
I'm not 'name dropping,' mind you, but in the late 1960s I boarded the old QUEEN ELIZABETH (Big 'Liz' prior to the newer QE-2) for England. The UNITED STATES was docked at the adjacent pier. Some of us walked over and were given a 'walk about' on her as they were in 'turn around.' Some ship, but not as Art Deco inside as the ELIZABETH & QUEEN MARY. Lots of glass, ceramic, plastic, steel interiors etc., as her designer, William Francis Gibbs, had to stick to U.S. military needs for the 'fast flyer' of the Atlantic. Her boiler and turbine rooms were 'squeeky clean' to the point of being sterile. She later passed us at sea and...WOW!...did she ever dig her heels in the ocean. At high speed her stern would 'bury' in the water. High operating costs and U.S. Maritime Union contracts drained her financially. More people were flying and ALL of those big ocean queens would be gone within a few years. It was the 'last hurrah' and I was fortunate to have seen it on my then little teacher's salary. Frank Prudent may know more about her at this point. Look for the limited edition book, 'By Their Works Ye Shall Know Them,' The Life and Ships of WILLIAM FRANCIS GIBBS, 1886-1967, by Frank O. Braynard. The 2,000 copies of this book were privately printed by Gibbs & Cox, 1968 (got mine for $15 at a book sale). Mariner's Museum in Virginia has all of Gibbs' papers, design sheets, office furniture etc., along with a huge wood hull model of the ship with each hull plate inked in black numbers for the builders, NEWPORT NEWS SHIP CO.
Cheers,
R. Dale Flick
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