>> you are watching american history tv, 48 hours of programming on american history every weekend on c-span tv. follow us at twitter for information on upcoming programs and to keep up with the latest history news. >> each week, american history tv's american artifacts takes viewers behind the scenes at archives, museums and historic sites. american history tv visited long beach, california, to tour the queen mary and learn about the service provided by the massive ocean liner during world war ii. the rms queen mary was in service between 1936 and 1967 and a has been restored and operated as a hotel for the past 40 years. [horn]

captain kayne: my name is will kayne. i served as captain of the queen mary. to all our visitors, who come to see us on a daily basis. on behalf of the rest of the crew and staff i want to welcome you aboard. the queen mary was originally owned and operated by the qunard line. it had an agreement with the british government to hold mail from europe to america. that is why it was called rms queen mary. royal mail ship. plans to begin the queen mary and the queen elizabeth began in 1926. they were to be the largest and fastest passenger liners ever built. work began in 1930. where it stopped year later. eventually the british government offered qunard a loan

to finish both the ships if they would agree to merge with the rival shipping company which was the white star line. you may of heard of the white star line, the company that had owned the titanic. they took them up on that offer. it became the qunard white star line. work resumed on job number 534. that is all the queen mary was known as at that time. she was launched in september, 1934. and set sail on her maiden voyage may 27, 1936. she continues passenger service between southhampton, england, and new york city. a shortstop in sherborn, france, until 1930 91 war was declared on germany. she was the first liner called up by the british mot for active war duty as a troopship. in march, 1940, she was drafted and became a carrier, a hospital ship and at the end of the war she served as the bride and baby shuttle.

she went back into passenger service in 1947 and served another 20 years known as the state latest ship on the sea. in the early 1960's, all passenger liners began to lose money. jet air travel was becoming the primary mode of transatlantic recitation. they decided to put the queen mary up for sail. the largest bid came from the city of long beach. $3.45 million. she set sail on her last cruise october 31. arrived in long beach harbor on december 9. ♪ >> a majestic queen mary prepares to say farewell to england forever. she's off on a final round the horne journey and royal navy helicopters in anchor information salute her departure.

thousands cheered, waved and wept as the old launch headed for retirement. it was a 39 day voice because she is 8 feet too wide to fit through the panama canal. she had to go around cape horn, across the equator twice in order to get there. ♪ >> the queen mary steams up the california coast at the end of her last voyage carrying 1200 passengers, a 40 day voyage. among her welcoming fleet, the aircraft carrier yorktown. a dozen coast guard cutters a score queen, surrounded by hundreds of small boats. she had for her final berth at long beach where she will be a permanent marine museum and convention facility.

the end of an era and the end of a long and gracious career for the mary. captain kayne: immediately upon arriving, they began transforming her from a luxury liner into a floating hotel. a tourist attraction and the convention center. we opened to the public in 1971. and in 1993, we were placed on the national register of historic places with historic significance. this year, we're celebrating the 44th anniversary of her arrival in southern california. and the 75th anniversary of her maiden voyage. world war ii was declared in europe on september 3, 1939. the queen mary was out at sea. she was two days away from making her 143rd atlantic crossing. in the early morning hours of that day, the course of the ship was change not only for the rest of that forage but for her entire sea life over the next eight years.

in a coded message, captain irving was warned to put the ship on war alert and took every precaution to bring her safely treated new york harbor. he was told to pay particular attention to the threat of submarine attacks. immediately, all 2000 portals were blacked out. all of her exterior lights were extinguished. and additional lookouts were posted, and the helmsman was ordered to begin steering as zigzag course to make are difficult to target. there were 2332 passengers aboard on that last civilian crossing. most of them were americans. the two most famous people aboard on that last civilian crossing were bob hope and his wife dolores. ♪ >> the former luxury liner queen

mary steams into sydney harbour loaded with troops. once the most palatial ship, the queen mary has a thrilling war record. whenever reinforcements are needed, the queen mary does the job. faster than enemy submarines, the galant vessel continues to play an important role in the war. ♪ captain kayne: the queen mary would make 72 wartime voyages transporting 800,000 troops between 1940 and 1946. she began in 1940 with trips of 5000 soldiers. by 1942, she had graduated to trips with 15,000 soldiers. her record number of passengers -- 16,683 in july of 1943 that still stands as the largest

number of human beings ever transported on one vessel in the history of the world. a normal crossing during passenger years, she carried 2000 passengers and 1200 crew members. i would like to read to you a provision list for a five day crossing during world war ii. "124,000 pounds of potatoes, 53,000 pounds of butter and eggs, 31,000 pounds of sugar, coffee and tea. 29,000 pounds of fruit, 18,000 pounds of jam. 155,000 thousand pounds of meat and poultry, 21,000 pounds of bacon, 76,000 pounds of flour. 6500 tons of fresh water was pumped aboard for each crossing during the war. freshwater was rationed. each soldier was given half a gallon of fresh water for the five-day trip. accommodations for the troops

stood wherever they could fit bunks. standee bunks, which were three to five beds high, 18 inches apart stood everywhere. the squash court was sleeping 96. the gymnasium 88. the swimming pool 110. second-class pool 124. the tanks of the swimming pools were trained and slept 60 men each. a deck was outfitted for 1887 -- total number of beds aboard -- 10,939. you add that the deck space, and you begin to understand how 16,000 men could travel anywhere from 5 to 40 days. any of the trip she made from england to australia where we were taken german prisoners, that was a 40 day trip. the bunk system, one man was assigned a bunk for 8 hours. when he got out, a third man

jumped in for 8. somebody was in the bunkbed 24 hours a day. ♪ >> one of the world's most famous ships brings home one of america's most famous fighting units. the queen mary reaches new york with the fighting 82nd airborne division, home after two years of battle. one soldier cannot wait for the big ship to dock. he bet his comrades he would be the first man ashore and he had to get wet to win. these triplets were fellow passages.

infant sons of an american sergeant, they were christened aboard ship with the entire division as godfathers. their mother, who arrived to join her husband, is grateful to the 8000 soldiers who contributed a substantial fund for the youngsters education. captain kayne: this was originally the first class smoking lounge. during the war, it was divided into hospital wards. it was the 16 bed women's ward, and a 20 bed acute medical care facility, the intensive care unit would've been located here. any of the artwork that could be removed was removed for the war years.

if it could not be removed, it was covered. and if it could not be covered, the men were warned. there was an instruction card given to every soldier and there were only two instructions. one dealt with the smoking of cigarettes after dark. the light of the cigarette, the glow could be enough to give away the location of the ship. that was not going to be allowed pretty other instruction dealt with the preservation of the wood veneer interior and any of the artwork left aboard the ship for the duration of the war. there were 56 different types of wood the interior decoration of the ship. six of those woods today we are told are extinct. this was originally the second-class smoking lounge during her passenger years. during the war, it was used as the recreation hall. today it has been reconfigured

slightly and it serves as our queen mary royal wedding chapel. we can have weddings to a three times a day on the weekends. there are two of us officers who are equipped with ministerial licenses. so we can marry people. very popular place for weddings, the queen mary, absolutely. we're standing here in the california shake shop on prom deck of the queen mary. during the war, this was a 62 bed hospital. the chelsea chowder house and bar was originally the first-class ballroom aboard the queen mary, and during the war it was outfitted as a 50 bed surgical unit.

we're standing in the wheelhouse, aboard the queen mary. this front section is referred to as the bridge. these two brass wheels are the helm. they controlled the 142 ton rudder. she had the largest rudder cast of any ship after that time. all of the brass is to miss you see our telegraphs or compasses, all related to course and speed. each one of the telegraphs is connected to a different portion, or a different place in the engine rooms. the men up here steering the course of the ship had to stay in constant communication with the men in the engine room providing the power. the gray wheel was automatic

pilot. but because the queen mary was such a rough ride, automatic pilot was very rarely used. some basic information. the queen mary is 1019 feet long, 118 feet wide, 185 feet high. she contained 12 decks. she weighs 81,237 tons. she is approximately twice the size of the titanic. the titanic could fit almost two times inside the queen mary. she originally had first, second and third class accommodations. first-class passengers were housed in the middle of the ship. they got the smoothest ride. second class was at the stern of the ship. they had to deal with noise and vibration sometimes from the engine rooms underneath. they got a ride back there. third class were up towards the bow, the front end of the ship because they took the roughest

beating on the sea. she generally carried 2000 passengers and 1200 crewmembers for crossing. crossing was usually 4.5 to 5 days. she traveled anywhere from 25-29 knots, which is roughly 30 miles an hour. she was the fastest liner in the world until 1952. this is the reason she was our number one stronghold against the enemy during the war. adolf hitler as well as the emperor of japan put up a $250,000 bounty, plus -- to any submarine captain who would sink the queen mary to get her out of the way. sir winston churchill said we were able to win world war ii in the amount of time that we did because of the performance of this ship. ♪

the liner queen mary brings winston churchill prime minister of great britain into new york harbor for a series of vital talks with president truman. down the gangplank to a coast guard cutter to mr. churchill. the prime minister will proceed to washington. at 77, he's still vigorous. [applause] in the capital, the reception includes full military honors. mr. churchill, whose main purpose is to develop cooperation between britain and america in relations with communist countries, is greeted by president truman who agrees what piece-- that peace is what both our country strive for. captain kayne: once she was ready for sea, she usually made her departures early in the morning or late in the evening. two reasons. one was to take advantage of the high tide. and the other was to conceal her movements from view.

it took a small flotilla of tugboats to get away from the pier. she misguided slowly downriver by a pilot from port authority and released into the open sea. she was escorted by four or five destroyers for 150 miles. by navy patrol planes. the aircraft would follow her. they would signal good luck and turn around and head back to shore. and was at that time the queen mother was left alone to cross the atlantic until she was met by her british escorts off the coast of ireland. this is the veranda grill. on the stern of the ship. during the war, this became the chief gunnery office. chief gunnery officer controlled quite a bit of weaponry from its headquarters back here. it was outfitted with two beds for gunners. the sun deck was outfitted with five 20 millimeter guns and one three inch gun.

it is one of the remarkable things about her record, this ship was never attacked. she never fired her guns, and most important, she never lost a single human being to enemy action. this is an aerial shot of the stern of the queen mary during the war in july, 1943, when she was carrying 16,683 human beings. as i said earlier, this still stands as the largest number of human beings ever transported on one vessel in the history of the world.

if anyone is interested in learning more about the queen mary during the war, the book called "the gray ghost, the rms queen mary at war" by steve harding. you will find much of the information in that book. an excellent source of the world war ii performance of the queen mary. we're standing in main hall or piccadilly circus as it was nicknamed. and it looks pretty much the same today as it did when she first set sail in 1936. she was known as the ship of beautiful woods. you go anywhere in the world and say queen mary, and people will say long beach. they long beach, and people will say the queen mary. so, the queen mary is responsible for putting the city of long beach on the map as a convention town, which is what she is today, very successful convention town.

this is the observation bar. originally, this was the first class cocktail lounge. the semicircular shaped room located at the end of prom deck forward, during the war, it was outfitted with 148 bunks. above the bar is the original mural by alfred thompson. it depicts the celebration of king george v's 25th year as king. if this room looks familiar to you, "what women want" with helen hunt and mel gibson was shot in here. "being john malkovich," "out to sea," "the aviator," "adaptations" with nicholas cage. recently a film "he's just not that into you" with jennifer aniston and ben affleck. we're standing here on the bow

of the queen mary. behind me here is an antiaircraft machine gun. in 1946, after the war, she went -- everything was taking off of her in order to get her back into shape to go into passenger service once again. this is not an actual gun that has been sitting here since world war ii. i wish i could say it was, but it is not. it is an example of the type of artillery she did carry, however. the only damage done to the queen mary during world war ii happened on october 2, 1942. she was in the waters off of northern ireland about 2:00 in the afternoon. one of her escort cruisers was approaching starboard side forward end. it was not aware of the exact patterning the queen mary was steering and she attempted to cut in front just as the queen mary was turning into the

direction of the curacao. the force of the queen mary sliced that vessel into two pieces, killing 338 crew. because the queen mary was such a sought-after vessel during the war, she was under orders never to stop for any reason whatsoever. the 101 survivors of the curacao were rescued by other escort vessels who had been in the vicinity at the time. the queen mary had 24 life boats. each life boat could contain 145 people. obviously, there were not enough life boats for 16,683 soldiers. the soldiers were aboard during the war in order to be on the outside decks they had to have life vests. if you are caught on the outside decks without a life vest, the

officer took your boots. you had to go inside, come back out and find the officer to get your boots back. i would say every couple of months we still get veterans who come back to look at where they slept during world war ii. it's always a very defining moment and it's an experience, i am sure, that anyone who is visiting on that day and happens to be on a tour that contains one of those veterans, it is a moment they will never forget. they all have interesting stories to tell. there's a lot of tears. i met one man this past january, an 84-year-old gentleman. came back. he took me to the staircase onto the land between a and b deck. and he laid on the floor and said take my picture because

this is where i slept. and i thought it was a little odd he would be sleeping in the middle of the main staircase, so i said, why would you sleep here? he said i was one of the 60 assigned to sleep in the first class swimming pool, but because the men were so seasick, the bottom of the swimming pool was such a mess, i would sneak out at night and sleep on the stairs and go back in the morning. we usually end here in the art gallery talking briefly about the bride and baby shuttle that she became at the end of the

war. the war ended in 1945, but the queen mary's career was not yet over. after being too militarized, she became part of the u.s. army transportation corp's operation diaper, the bride and baby shuttle. from february to september 1946, she would make 13 roundtrips between southhampton and new york, transporting 25% of all the service dependents and their children who came to the united states at the end of world war ii. the queen mary went back into passenger service in july, 1947, and served another 20 years known as the stateliest ship on the seas. she retired in 1967. in 1969, and author wrote a book called the rms queen mary queen of queens.

he referred to her as the ship that describe -- that survived a war, and the scrapyard, an english ship that carried more americans than englishmen. the ship they carry the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich. a legend in our times. may our queen live on forever. [horn] about ellen and edith wilson. first lady ellen wilson saw the

creation of the rose garden and improved housing conditions for the poor in washington dc. after a year and a half serving as first lady, she grows ill and passes away. wilson becomes his companion, filter, leader, and guardian. she also becomes the first first lady to travel to europe. this sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's original series first ladies. examining the public and private minds of the women who filled the position of first lady and their influences on the presidency. sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. american history tv on c-span3. >> this sunday night on q&a, 20-year-old college student kurt ion has been visiting the grace of vice presidents and

president since he was 9:00 -- since he was nine years old and documents those. he talks about that. >> the one great site that everyone has trouble getting to is the rockefeller gravesite. >> vice president for ford. >> how did you do it? to waitre able to get through what my father described as an act of god. my father walked farther down the perimeter of the cemetery and saw that a giant tree had fallen and crushed the fence. he went in and saw rockefeller's grade. he decided he would have to get me there fairly quickly after that. >> sunday night at aycock eastern and pacific on c-span q&a. >> in august, 1945, 70 years ago, american forces dropped two atomic bombs over japan. one at hiroshima and the other in in nagasaki. val fitch talks about his time at los alamos, new mexico.

after working on the timing apparatus of the atomic bomb, he was set to observe the 1945 trinity test, the first nuclear bomb detonation. he also discusses the national revocations of nuclear weapons and his thoughts on nuclear disarmament. val fitch died in february, 2015 at the age of 91. this oral history is from the voices of the manhattan project, created by the atomic heritage foundation and the los alamos historical society. val: i was born on a cattle ranch in northwest nebraska, 1923. and actually born on a ranch. this is about five miles from a little town of merriman, in the sandhills of nebraska. you probably do not know anything, but they occupy 1/5 of the state. it's cattle raising country. they call it sandhills because