Hauntings of the RMS Queen Mary

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In 1929, at the start of the Great Depression, the Cunard Line devised a bold plan to create a luxury ocean liner unlike anything ever seen before. That ship turned out to be the RMS Queen Mary. From 1936-1967, the Queen Mary served as the premiere ocean liner for transatlantic crossings and a service ship during World War II.

The Queen Mary made 1,001 transatlantic crossings between 1936 and 1967 before docking in Long Beach. During its decades of service, the ocean liner carried approximately 2.2 million passengers, and 47 deaths were reported aboard the ship during that time.

Today, the ship is permanently docked in Long Beach, California, where it is both a tourist attraction and a hotel. Given its long and storied past, it’s no surprise that the spirits of the Queen Mary’s past passengers and crew linger, still haunting the ship decades later.

Historical Journey of the RMS Queen Mary
World War II Begins
Haunting Legends and Ghost Stories
John Pedder and Door 13
The HMS Curacoa Collision
The First-Class Swimming Pool, Jackie, and the Vortex
Cultural Impact of the Queen Mary

Why is the RMS Queen Mary haunted?

It is believed that up to 150 ghosts haunt the spooky ship, and several of the spirits have been identified.

The deaths related to the Queen Mary date back to its construction. On June 5, 1934, a construction worker named Malcolm Aitken fell from the scaffolding surrounding the ship and died. On June 8, 1936, crew member Arthur John Francis Golding died after fracturing his skull during the ocean liner’s return to the UK following its maiden voyage.

During the ship’s final voyage to Long Beach in 1967, crew member Leonard Horsburgh developed heatstroke and died from a cerebral hemorrhage as the beautiful ocean liner passed the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

These tragedies, which bookended Queen Mary’s life as a sailing vessel, could potentially add to the hauntings. Other causes for the hauntings include its time as a service ship during World War II and a vortex that allows spirits to travel in and out of the ship.

Whatever the reason, the hauntings aboard the Queen Mary have been carefully documented and add an intriguing layer of mystery to the ship’s past.

The Historical Journey of the RMS Queen Mary

By the late 1920s, the Cunard Line was ready to retire its three flagships: the Mauretania, the Aquatania, and the Berengeria, which had all been in service for at least 15 years. In their place, the Cunard Line envisioned two luxury liners with the best modern technology, amenities, and style.

On May 28, 1930, John Brown and Company LTD was announced as the builder of the new ships. In December of that year, construction began on the first ocean liner, Job #534, which would become the Queen Mary.

By the time the Great Depression hit the United Kingdom in 1931, the Queen Mary was already a nine-story ship with 80% of its hull completed. Due to insufficient funds, construction was halted on Job #534 for over two years.

Additionally, the Cunard Line was forced into a merger with the White Star Line, which built the Titanic. The two rival companies consolidated to become the Cunard White Star Line LTD. After the North Atlantic Shipping bill was passed, the company secured 4.5 million pounds to complete the Queen Mary and another 5 million pounds to construct the second ship. On May 11, 1934, construction finally resumed on Job #534.

It’s been said that the Cunard Line had intended to name Job #534 the ‘Victoria’ until fate intervened. When a representative from the Cunard Line told King George V that the company planned to name the ship after England’s “greatest queen,” King George allegedly replied, “My wife will be delighted that you are naming the ship after her.” And so, Job #534 was officially named the Queen Mary.

Queen Mary Launch

The ocean liner was officially launched on September 26, 1935. King George V and Queen Mary were in attendance, with the queen christening her. During her speech, the queen stated, “I am happy to name this ship the Queen Mary. I wish success to her and to all who sail her.” Two days later, the ship’s boilers were installed after being moved to a fitting-out basin. On November 6th, the final touches were put on the ship so she would be ready to set sail.

On May 26, 1936, the Queen Mary set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, and then picked up additional passengers in Cherbourg, France, before departing to New York City. As the epitome of luxury travel, the ocean liner boasted numerous amenities, including a library, gymnasium, squash court, ballroom, two swimming pools, and a hospital. The ship was 1,019 feet long and the first British ocean liner to exceed a thousand feet. Its gross tonnage was 81,237 and could accommodate 2,038 passengers. Her cruising speed was 28.5 knots, slightly lower than her rival ship, the French Line’s Normandie.

The Queen Mary was and continues to be famous for its iconic Art Deco style. One of her nicknames is the “Ship of Woods” since over 50 different types of wood were used to create the intricate paneling and other architectural details throughout the ship.

World War II Begins

In September 1939, during one of the Queen Mary’s transatlantic voyages, World War II officially began. As soon as the ship docked in New York City, it ceased to be a passenger ship and instead became a troop ship.

After being fitted out as a wartime ship, the Queen Mary could carry 15,000 people and set a record of carrying 16,683 troops and staff in 1943. In total, the vessel transported approximately 810,000 service members during the war.

In addition to being able to carry thousands of service members at a time, the Queen Mary was also considered the largest and fastest ship active during the war. Her top cruising speed was 32.5 knots, which could outrun German torpedoes. The ship gained enough of a reputation that Adolf Hitler offered a reward to any U-boat captain who could sink her, though there were no reported attempts.

Despite dodging German torpedoes, the Queen Mary was involved in a catastrophic accident in 1942 when it crashed into the HMS Curacoa, killing hundreds of the Curacoa’s passengers.

Incidentally, the Queen Mary was nicknamed the “Grey Ghost” after being painted entirely grey for camouflage during transatlantic crossings.

After the War

Following World War II, it took 10 months to turn the Queen Mary back into a luxury ocean liner. She made her first postwar voyage on July 21, 1947, and would continue to make transatlantic crossings for 20 years.

As air travel became more popular in the 1950s and 1960s, there was a decreased need for luxury liners like the Queen Mary. As a result, the ship started her final voyage on October 31, 1967, and docked in Long Beach, CA, on December 9, 1967, where she was modified for use as a floating hotel and tourist attraction.

Haunting Legends and Ghost Stories

In addition to her cultural and historical significance, the Queen Mary has a well-deserved reputation for being haunted. Disembodied voices, strange noises, and apparitions have all been documented aboard the ship.

Witnesses have seen the spirit of a man crushed by a watertight door and the ghost of a woman who dances in the first-class lounge. One of the staterooms is so haunted that it was closed to the public for 30 years.

There is a wealth of documented stories of hauntings, including one from 1989 that occurred in the Mauretania Room, also known as the Garden Lounge. The cleaning staff entered the room and saw a guest sitting on a chair in the middle of it. The three staff members were about to call security on the guest when she suddenly vanished, shocking the staff.

In 2001, an employee came into work early, around 5:30 am, and entered the staff offices, which formerly housed the Queen Mary’s beauty salon. The employee felt someone or something brush against them, then saw a pale figure walking through the office before completely disappearing.

Staff and guests also tell tales of Grumpy, a spirit known to growl in people’s ears and whose presence is often felt in groups. Another entity wearing overalls has been seen near the propellors in an area known as “Shaft Alley.”

These are just a few of the stories that build the case for the Queen Mary being thoroughly haunted.

Hauntings of The Queen Mary

Room B340
Door 13
Lady In White
The First-Class Swimming Pool
The Crew of The HMS Curacoa

The Legend of Room B340

Over the years, Stateroom B340 has developed the reputation of being the Queen Mary’s most haunted room. It’s difficult to determine where the legend started, but it is confirmed that passenger Walter J. Adamson died in the room in 1948.

There’s no record of his cause of death, but it was only afterward that ghost sightings in the room were reported. Prior to the ship docking in Long Beach, a female passenger in Room B340 woke to find a shadow figure standing at the end of her bed.

The entity had pulled the covers off her and vanished into thin air as soon as she woke up. These types of sightings have only increased since the ship was turned into a hotel. Guests have reported waking up to hear the sink and tub faucets running, lights turning on and off, bathroom and closet doors opening and closing, and an unseen entity knocking on the door. The cleaning staff said they saw sheets pulled off the bed right after making it.

As the stories about Room B340 have spread, some have moved into the territory of urban legend. One of these stories is that in the 1960s, a man murdered two women and was locked in what is now Room B340 until the Queen Mary got to New York.

When police entered the man’s room, he’d been violently murdered even though no one else was in the room. Another variation of the story is that a man murdered his two daughters in the room or that a wife murdered her husband. Whatever version of the story you might hear, it was invented at some point and took on a life of its own.

Spend The Night In B340

Due to its haunted reputation, the ship’s management closed Room B340 for about 30 years. It was only in 2018 that the room reopened after being renovated. Specifically, Room B340 reopened on Friday, April 13th, 2018. In 2020, the ship was shut down for three years, but Room B340 was reopened for reservations on September 13, 2024.

The room leans into the legend and features tarot cards, a crystal ball, and an Ouija board among its amenities. In the adjoining bathroom, instructions can be found to summon ‘Bloody Mary.’ Accounts from former guests and investigators are also written on the room’s walls, adding to the decidedly creepy atmosphere.

John Pedder and Door 13

On July 10, 1966, a routine safety drill onboard the Queen Mary turned tragic when a crew member violently lost his life. In the accident, 18-year-old John Pedder was crushed by door 13, a watertight door on the ‘D’ Deck.

Pedder had only been a crew member for a few months when he died. He had been tending to the bilge pump when the drill occurred around 3:55 a.m. Unfortunately, he did not make it through the door in time. Another crew member found him, and the watertight door was quickly released. The only visible sign of injury was blood running down Pedder’s nose, but he likely died at the scene or shortly after at the ship’s hospital.

It’s widely believed that Pedder’s spirit remains decades after his horrific death. A few years after Pedder died, a night watchman reported walking towards the former site of Door 13 when his German Shepherd became frightened, as if seeing something that the guard could not. The guard then heard a clanging metallic sound moving toward him, causing both him and his dog to flee the area.

Over the years, witnesses have reported seeing a shadow figure near Door 13 and even claimed to have been chased. There are also reports of a metallic sound, which could be the phantom noise of Door 13 slamming shut. One woman saw a man near Door 13, who she later identified via old photographs as John Pedder.

The Lady in White

The Queen’s Salon was once the Queen Mary’s first-class lounge and has been home to the ship’s Lady in White for years. The identity of the Lady in White remains a mystery, but she’s been seen near the piano dancing to music no one else can hear. Whoever she is, the Lady in White has been one of the ship’s most popular and often-seen ghosts since it docked in Long Beach.

The HMS Curacoa Collision

On October 2, 1942, the Queen Mary was carrying 15,000 US troops across the Atlantic for wartime service. To prevent being torpedoed, the ship made a zig-zag pattern in the water and was escorted by a smaller ship, the HMS Curacoa, as an added safety precaution. However, disaster struck when the Queen Mary swung towards the Curacoa.

Ernest Watson, a crew member aboard the Curacoa, was the first to realize the ships would collide and shouted, “She’s going to ram us!” Unfortunately, everything happened too fast for the Curacoa’s crew to react.

The Queen Mary weighed 81,000 tonnes, while the Curacoa only weighed 4,290 tonnes. The Queen Mary was also sailing at its maximum cruising speed of 28.5 knots. This combination caused the bow of the Queen Mary to cut the Curacoa in half. The Curacoa’s stern quickly sank with its crew still trapped inside.

Hell Or High Water

As survivors on the ship’s bow waited for the Queen Mary to rescue them, they instead watched in disbelief as it sailed away. Captain Cyril Illingworth had been ordered not to stop the Queen Mary for any reason and instead called on two other British ships to rescue the survivors of the Curacoa.

It took nearly two hours for the two British destroyers to reach the wreckage of the Curacoa. By that time, most of the crew had died of hypothermia in the frigid Atlantic waters. Of the 430 crew members aboard the Curacoa, only 101 survived, while the other 329 died.

The disaster was kept a secret until the war ended, and it took four years to investigate the case. Blame was pointed at the Queen Mary and the Curacoa captains. After a lengthy court battle, the Curacoa was found to be two-thirds at fault for the collision. The court determined that the Curacoa was responsible for maneuvering away from the Queen Mary since it was the smaller ship.

According to testimony from the officer steering the Queen Mary at the time of the collision, Captain Illingworth had told him that the Curacoa would move and thought the Queen Mary had struck a bomb when it hit the other ship.

At the front of the ship, where the collision happened, some visitors have reported hearing the sounds of metal crushing and the screams of men. Others have heard the sound of rushing water and banging against the ship’s side.

The First-Class Swimming Pool, Jackie, and the Vortex

The Queen Mary’s first-class swimming is another major hotspot for paranormal phenomena. People have heard splashing coming from the pool area and even seen wet footprints leading away from the pool. This is highly unusual, considering that the pool was drained of water years ago. A woman in 1930s swimwear and a young girl holding a teddy bear have also been observed near the first-class pool.

The ghost of a young girl named Jackie has been around the pool area for years. Jackie is believed to have drowned in the pool, but there are no official records indicating that a drowning ever occurred in either the first or second-class pools.

This was also backed up by a psychic who investigated the pool and confirmed Jackie’s presence. Multiple witnesses have heard Jackie talking and laughing.

It’s been theorized by psychics and ghost hunters alike that there are vortexes onboard the Queen Mary that create a portal for supernatural phenomena. One vortex is located in the boiler room where the body of a crew member known only as “John Henry” was found.

Many investigators have captured audio recordings of ghosts and seen apparitions in the area as well. The second, and perhaps more powerful, vortex is located in the changing area next to the first-class swimming pool. One psychic investigating the Queen Mary stated that the narrow hallway leading to the changing rooms was the “center of spiritual energy on the ship.” People report feeling dizzy in the hallway and getting goosebumps.

Cultural Impact of the Queen Mary

Because of its haunting reputation, the Queen Mary has been featured on numerous TV shows, including My Ghost Story, Most Haunted, and Ghost Adventures. During the Ghost Adventures investigation, Zak Bagans and his team recorded ghostly voices through EVP, witnessed multiple orbs of light floating around, and saw the apparition of John Pedder near Door 13.

The Queen Mary has also been frequented by YouTubers and podcasters who are performing paranormal investigations. YouTube star Jake Webber spent the night aboard the ship with a group of friends in 2023, and their experience garnered millions of views. Likewise, YouTuber FaZe Rug spent the night in Room B340 in 2024. In 2020, the true crime and paranormal podcast And That’s Why We Drink investigated the Queen Mary for the show’s ‘Here for the Boos’ tour.

The Lasting Legacy of the RMS Queen Mary

History and hauntings intersect aboard the RMS Queen Mary. Regarding cultural significance, the Queen Mary was a state-of-the-art luxury ocean liner that also played an integral part in World War II.

The ship hosted celebrities including Greta Garbo, Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable, and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as political figures such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Winston Churchill, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Documented extensively in film and television, the Queen Mary cemented itself as a cultural icon long ago, and the ghost stories only add to its prestige.

Although the ship took her maiden voyage in 1936, the Queen Mary is as stunning now as she was when she first set sail. Guests can book a stay on the ship, including the haunted Room B340, throughout the year and bask in its Art Deco splendor. Ghost hunts and other forms of entertainment are available onboard, along with a variety of shops and restaurants.

America’s Most Haunted

The United States is full of haunted locations that fascinate and strike fear in our hearts. Many have surface-level stories that are more complex than they appear. Continue reading our series on America’s Most Haunted Places if you enjoyed this in-depth look into the RMS Queen Mary.

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