Queen Mary Encounter

In the 1930's, its heyday, the Queen Mary was a luxury liner that attracted the rich and famous. During World War II, the ship was commissioned into service for the armed services. But in 1975, it was nothing more than a sad old boat, owned and operated by the City of Long Beach. By agreement, no rent at the marina was charged as long as the Queen Mary didn't make any money, so they didn't even try -- and it soon fell into disrepair.

I was a cocktail waitress in the Observation Bar, 22 years old, working nights and attending college during the day. Shortly after I began working there, employees swapped stories of hauntings. I laughed off each one, not believing for a minute that they were true. One night there was a high school prom in the Queen's Salon. Several under-aged teenagers came to the bar, and of course, they had all "lost" or "forgot" their IDs. One young lady came in and sat in a booth wearing an 30's "flapper" dress, and and had old-fashioned, short, wavy hair style. I thought she had cleverly made a good find at a local thrift store for the prom. She was crying and asked for a whiskey. When I asked her for her ID, she pulled out a passport from a leather wallet, which proved she was over 90. "Nice try," I said. I winked at the bartender, and when I turned to talk to her, she disappeared like a fog lifting. The bartender said he had seen her sitting there, but would not admit that he saw her vanish before his eyes.

Several weeks later another strange thing happened in the forward hull, far below the water line. It was a large, high-ceiling room that was used for storage, workers had pulled out some of the art-deco furniture, lamps, and rugs, and made a comfortable "employee's room." I had gotten off work at 3 in the morning and went there to wait for a security guard to finish his rounds so he could escort me to my car. I sat there working on homework when, suddenly, I was paralyzed with fear. It took all my courage to gather up my things before running for the elevator. I had the feeling that I could never escape. Fear had gripped my soul, my heart pounded wildly. My legs felt as if they were made of lead -- I was unable to move! I screamed bloody murder until the security guard came to my rescue. Later I was told that this area was used to hold German POWs, (most of them were no older than 17) during the war. Two had died of fear in that very spot.

Stories of apparition sightings aboard the Queen Mary continue to this day. I believe every one of them.