Queen Mary ruled the waves as the greatest passenger liner in the world.

Launched in 1936, she personified British engineering and craftsmanship at its best and on a breathtaking scale, from the 2,140 passenger cabins to the 2,000 portholes and windows. John Brown, her chief designer, was only 25.

For years she was the biggest, fastest, most luxurious passenger ship afloat. She was the star of the classy Cunard Line fleet, and held the Blue Riband trophy for the fastest Atlantic crossing at 31.6 knots, from 1937 to 1952.

In the Second World War she became a troop ship, and her 1943 record for the greatest number of people ever carried on a ship still stands at 16,683.

Eventually jumbo jets took the place of the great transatlantic ocean liners. In 1967 the once supreme Queen Mary retired to Long Beach, California as a hotel and tourist attraction.