Customer Reviews

Warrior Queens

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I liked the way Butler filled in the history of the Queen Mary and
Queen Elizabeth.He also told a very good clear picture of life
we lived aboard ship. On page 92 second phargaph tells of a March
1945 crossing . I was on that passage and well remember hearing
the depth charges explodimg.I still have my white tag and cabin
with number on D deck.To verify my memory I checked my discharge and called our coplit yes he remembered hearing the depth charges.
This tolded of the vital roll these two great ships played in
winning of the war.Many of these things where new to me and I was there.

Most people will know of the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth as a couple of old cruise liners -- many may have stayed at the Hotel Queen Mary in the ship's now permanent home in the waters of California. For a brief time, these ships were converted to military use in World War II to transport troops. On one occasion, the Queen Mary hit the British light cruiser HMS Curacoa, causing the ship to sink with the loss of hundreds of allied soldiers.

Daniel Butler is a great historian and storyteller and he makes the wartime history of these two ships come alive. He doesn't start with the day the decision was made to use these cruise ships for military use. He sets the stage and gives the readers an understanding of the years leading to World War II -- not only giving a political and military background, but also telling us what was happening in the shipping industry that led to the construction of these two ships.

To me the two most interesting parts of the book came when Butler tells about the most significant event of the Queen Mary's tour of duty (when the Curacoa was cut in two by her), and the most mundane (what it was like for a soldier to be transported on one of the Queens). If there is a weakness, it was here. I wish he could have had more first hand accounts from the surviving veterans who had crossed the ocean on their way to war. But of course, there are fewer and fewer such survivors still with us. Butler wrote this book just in time.

A very well written and researched book. Not only does the author tell the story of the two Queens in WWII. He also gives a nice history of trans-Atlantic shipping up to the point of the Queens construction and to the war. During the war years he tells of the Queen contribution to the war effort and also paints a good over all picture of the war so you can better understand their roll in it. This book is a great addition and read for those who have an interest in this subject.

I was looking all over for this book and finally found it on Amazon. This book is very interesting about the two ships, Queen Mary and her sister ship Queen Elizabeth. Churchill said that these two ships shorten WWII by one year. I found this book to be very interesting and to have a lot of information that I didn't know about. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history and WWII in perticular. There is a lot of information that can be found in this book, not only about the ships, but the war years too.

I was amazed to read how many troops the two Queens carried and did not sustain any damage. They both went on to serve for many more years after the war. Well built and well loved.