May 15, 2024
RMS Queen Mary
Queen Mary
A couple of weeks ago, I went to Long Beach (California) and I visited the Queen Mary.
A big British ocean liner that was converted into an allied troopship during World War II.
"On one voyage in 1943, she carried over 16,600 people, the still-standing record for the most people on a vessel."
The Queen Mary (and also Queen Elizabeth) high speed and zigzag courses made it virtually impossible for U-boats submarines to catch them.
"Adolf Hitler offered a bounty of 1 million Reichsmarks and Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross, Germany's highest military honor, to any U-boat captain that sank either ship"
Now, the boat is permanently moored and people can visit or stay with floating hotel-restaurant inside.
Below are some pictures I took during my visit:
Darkest Hour
If you like World War 2 history and movies, you will probably like the Darkest Hour movie with Gary Oldman in the Winston Churchil role.
IMDB: "In May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire."
The Queen Mary contains a section with the original movie sets inside.
From the Queen Mary website::
"Winston Churchill traveled on the Queen Mary three times during WWII and considered it his headquarters at sea. In fact, he even signed the D-Day Declaration onboard. Winston Churchill said, Built for the arts of peace and to link the old world with the new, the queens challenged the fury of Hitlerism in the battle of the Atlantic. Without their aid, the day of final victory must unquestionably have been postponed."
Winston Churchill
Here are some quotes from Winston Churchill's that I find very interesting:
"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm"
"I never worry about action, but only inaction."
"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
"If you are going through hell, keep going."
"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
"There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion."
"There are a terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is that half of them are true."
"Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft."
"I like a man who grins when he fights."
"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."
"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things."
"In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies."
Thanks for reading,
JS.