Famous Hauntings: RMS Queen Mary

The RMS Queen Mary is an ocean liner that sailed across the North Atlantic from 1936 until 1967 for the Cunard Line.  She was retired from service and left Southampton, England on 31^st October 1967, arriving at her new home of Long Beach, California where she remains moored.  The ship is on the National Register of Historic Places.

RMS Queen Mary docked in Long Beach (Wikipedia)

History of the ship

The Queen Mary was built in the John Brown & Company Shipbuilding and Engineering shipyard on the River Clyde at Clydebank in Scotland.  Work began in 1930, was halted in 1931 due to the Great Depression and was completed in 1934, along with her sister ship, the Queen Elizabeth.  The ship was named for Mary, consort of King George V.

The Queen Mary sailed her maiden voyage from Southampton on 27^th May 1936, headed for New York.  On board facilities included two indoor swimming pools, beauty salons, a music studio, outdoor paddle tennis courts and dog kennels.  To keep the children occupied, there were nurseries, a library and a lecture hall.  The largest room was the first class main dining room, or grand salon, which was three stories high while the cabin class swimming pool was two decks in height.  She was the first ocean liner to have her own Jewish prayer room – proof of anti-racism at the time of Nazi Germany.

War record

Late August 1939 saw the Queen Mary returning from New York to Southampton with a battlecruiser escort, HMS Hood.  This was in light of the growing tensions that would lead to the outbreak of World War II.  In March 1940, the Queen Mary, along with the Queen Elizabeth and the Normandie, the three largest cruise liners in the world, were forced to sit idle due to the war. 

New York 1945 (Wikipedia)

It was decided to use them for troopships but during the outfitting, the Normandie was destroyed by fire.  Queen Mary was sent to Sydney, Australia where she brought Australian and New Zealand soldiers back to the UK.  Incidentally, at this time, her superstructure and funnels were painted navy grey to help camouflage her and she was given the nickname the Grey Ghost.

During a voyage in 1942, the ship accidentally sank one of her escorts, the light cruiser HMS Curacoa with the loss of 239 lives.  Later that year, she carried 16,082 American soldiers from New York to the UK, a standing record for the most passengers ever transported on one ship.  During the voyage, she was hit with a 92 ft. wave that nearly capsized her and calculations later estimated that she rolled 52 degrees and had she gone 3 degrees further, she would have capsized.  This incident was said to be the inspiration for the story The Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico that was later made into a film.

Post War

The Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service between 1946-47 and with her sister ship, continued to dominate the transatlantic passenger trade in the 1940s and 1950s.  Passenger numbers began to drop with the first transatlantic jet crossing but through the 1960s both ships still averaged 1000 passengers per journey.  However, by 1965, the entire Cunard fleet was operating at a loss and both ships were forced to retire and sold off. 

When she retired, the Queen Mary had carried 2,112,000 passengers and sailed for 3,792,227 miles in her years of service, completing her 1,000^th crossing of the North Atlantic to reach her new home.

Hauntings

The Queen Mary is now operated as a hotel and since the 1980s, there have been a score of reports of hauntings and strange happenings.  The floating hotel and museum that the ship now is has been called one of the most haunted places in the world with some estimates around 150 different ghosts on board.

The First Class Swimming Pool is said to be haunted by the ghosts of two women who both drowned in it at different times.  One dates from the 1930s while the other from the 1960s.  Ghostly wet footprints are often reported around the pool and the sounds of splashing water have been heard even though the pool is empty.  The dressing rooms associated with the pool have often been reported to have strange, negative vibes and be a portal for ghostly visitors to travel from one dimension to another.

A young girl nicknamed Jackie has been seen playing hide and seek in the area originally the second-class pool and singing nursery songs. 

The engine room is a particularly busy spot in ghostly terms.  It was used for the filming of The Poseidon Adventure film and at least two men have been killed by one single door in the room.  Door 13 has been said to have been crushed to death two men, the most recent in 1966 when an 18-year-old working on the crew was killed by it.  His ghost, in blue coveralls and with a beard, has been seen walking along Shaft Alley before vanishing through Door 13.

Grand Salon (Wikipedia)

The Queen’s Salon, the first class lounge, has the ghost of a young woman in a white evening gown who is seen dancing in the corner of the room.

A tall, dark haired man in 1930s style clothing has been seen in the first-class staterooms who may or may not be connected with reports of water running, lights turning on and off and phones ringing when no one is on the other end. 

In the third class children’s nursery, a baby crying is heard, believed to be an infant boy who died just after birth on the ship.

Across the ship, there have been reports of disembodied screams, phantom footsteps, sound and smells with no explanation and voices in empty rooms.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Mary

http://www.ghostresearch.org/articles/queenmary.html

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-queenmary.html

Haunted Places of Alaska

Alaska is the extreme north-west part of the North American continent and is bordered completely by Canada.  It is the largest state in the USA but is also the least densely populated with around half of its entire population live in the Anchorage metropolitan area.  It also has a longer coastline than the rest of the US states combined at nearly 34,000 miles.

Anchorage

Anchorage is the largest city in the state and lies on a coastal lowland strip that extends to the lower slopes of the Chugach Mountains.  The city was transferred from Russia to the US in 1912 with the rest of the state at which point it was a significant mineral mining centre.

Schools

The original building of Clark Middle School was as much a fallout shelter as a school and was designed to allow helicopters to land in the event of war.  Whether the ghost comes from the time of the original building or the newer building is unknown but she has been seen by both teachers and students.  She is a woman in white who favours the band room as well appearing in empty hallways and also helps out by turning off the lights in empty classrooms.  She has been seen appearing through the floor so perhaps she is associated with the old building and is walking the layout as it was in her time.

Hanshew Middle School is haunted by the ghost of a girl who was said to have died during the construction of the school, though by accident or murder is unknown.  She is seen early on the morning and late at night, crying and shouting for help, her expression sad.  She has been seen by children in the school but also by janitors working there.

West High School sits overlooking Westchester Lagoon and is haunted by a woman in white who is seen in the old auditorium.  She has been seen by staff and children for a number of years, sometimes standing among the seats or other times backstage or even in the halls of the basement below.  There are also tales of a former janitor who continues about his duties when no-one is meant to be in the building and may be connected to the footsteps head in empty rooms, doors slamming by themselves and lights which switch on and off unassisted.

Marriott Ghosts

Source: Wikipedia

There are two Marriott hotels around Anchorage and both of them have connected ghost stories.  The Historic Anchorage Hotel has reports of a young girl who is seen walking on the 2^nd floor and on the same floor, rooms 215 and 217 have reports of TV’s turning on and off as well as a bathtub which runs itself.  A man is seen on the stairs that vanishes and, perhaps connected, footsteps are heard coming down the stairs but no-one is there.

The Courtyard by Marriott is known for the ghost of a man who died in Room 201.  His body was not discovered for a few days, staff say, and his ghost is often seen in the room.  Another ghost wanders the parking lot and is called Ken, though whether this is his real-life name or merely a staff nickname is unknown.  He does sometimes make it around the to courtyard and into the gazebo too.  Finally, there is a ghost cat that is most commonly associated with Rooms 103 and 107.

University of Alaska

The Wendy Williamson auditorium of the University is a very paranormally active spot.  Props and furniture is thrown around, stage lights have exploded for no reason, footsteps are heard but cannot be explained and a strange shadow is seen on the walls.  Three different women reported trying to leave the bathroom to find the door being held shut but no-one is in sight when it is abruptly released.  The problems started when attempts were made to change the layout of the auditorium but plans were abandoned leaving a catwalk that cannot be used, an elevator shaft without an elevator and other strange features.

There is also an aggressive ghost in the foyer of the building that seems to have special malice for brunette women.  Some have been pushed down the stairs by the ghost and often strange reflections in the doors have been reported.

Fairbanks

Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska and was founded in 1901 by Captain ET Barnette when his steamboat ran aground in shallow water and he and his party were deposited on the spot.  It is in the Tanana Valley either side of the Chena River and is at the edge of a chain of hills that eventually becomes the White Mountains.

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital

Source: Wikipedia

The hospital is said to be one of the most haunted places in the whole state.  Rumour says it was built on sacred Indian ground and these disturbed spirits may be responsible for some of the hauntings.  The hospital dates from just 1972 to take over from the St Joseph’s Hotel after much of it was destroyed in the Chena River Flood of 1967. 

There are reports of the sounds of babies in an empty room and this corresponds with a rapid drop in temperature that is recoded as low as 60 F.  Ghostly children and babies have been seen in the nursery area and there have also been reports of angels appearing in the rooms when a baby dies there.

Birch Hill Cemetery

The cemetery on Birch Hill overlooks the city and is haunted by the ghosts of children.  A young boy is seen walking around, dressed in clothing from the early 1900s and appears to be searching for someone.  A young girl in a white dress is the most famous ghost and is said to be contemporary of the boy.  She was photographed on one occasion by research Jessie Desmond. 

Shadow figures are common in the cemetery as well as a small, dark figure that floats just above the ground.  There are also reports of glowing orbs that are seen floating above the cemetery, often at the same time as the ghostly children are seen.

Skagway

Skagway is an area on the Alaska Panhandle that is a hugely popular tourist spot during summer months.  Its port is a frequent stop for cruise ships and the White Pass and Yukon Route narrow gauge railroad both run from the town.  It was originally a Tlingit settlement and was settled by explorers who anticipated the Klondike gold rush.

Golden North Hotel

The Golden North Hotel was built in 1898 and is one of the oldest hotels in the state.  It was relocated in 1908 when a third floor was added and a golden dome.  There are two main hauntings mentioned in connection with the hotel.  The first is a spirit nicknamed Mary who was engaged to a man who was searching for gold in the area.  He sent for her and booked her into the hotel then went off prospecting but while he was away, Mary contract pneumonia.  She lay in Room 23, awaiting his return and getting sicker until she finally died before he returned.  Her spirit is often seen in the room while others have reported waking to a choking feeling as if they couldn’t breathe properly.

The other haunting is connected to Room 14 and comes in the form of a strange light.  Sometimes it appears late at night or sometimes just before dawn and is described as an orb or a small sparkle.  It is non-threatening and is often enjoyed by those who witness it.

Red Onion Saloon

The Red Onion Saloon is now a restaurant-bar, as well as a museum on prostitution but started out life as the real thing in the late 1890s.  It was a renowned casino and bordello that was later used as an army barracks during World War II, a TV station, a bakery and even a gift shop.  The second floor has ghostly footsteps and cold spots as well as a strong smell of perfume in rooms that haven’t been entered.  Police were even called out on one occasion when a shadowy figure was seen running along a hall by the former Madame’s room but they could find no trace of the intruder.

If you know more about these stories, or similar ones, please tell your tale below or alternatively if you wish to remain anonymous, contact me directly at angelatempestwriter@yahoo.co.uk