Warrior Queens

by Daniel Allen Butler

Book Overview

Converted from luxury liners to troopships at the outset of World War II, the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth logged over a million nautical miles and carried more than a million military personnel. Drawing from both published sources and Cunard's official archives, the archives and records of the British Admiralty and the U.S. Navy, and the firsthand recollections of soldiers, seamen, and war brides, author Daniel Allen Butler brings this unique aspect...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811716457
• ISBN13: 9780811716451
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Stackpole Books
• Length: 2 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.1" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Warrior Queens: The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth in World War II

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 there

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 hearingthe depth charges explodimg.I still have my white tag and cabinwith 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.

Great story about two great ships

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.