Great British Royal Ships

Episode 2

The Queen Mary: Our Royals at Sea

Part two of two. Rob Bell examines RMS Queen Mary, the most famous ocean liner ever built and the first merchant naval ship ever to have been launched by a reigning sovereign. Built in the throes of the Great Depression, the Queen Mary lifted a nation out of an economic slump and re-established Britain as the greatest shipbuilding nation on Earth. Rob discovers how the vessel would come to represent the golden age of ocean passage and epitomise 1930s style and elegance - even going on to capture the prestigious Blue Riband for the fastest Transatlantic passage.