The Queen Mary , with 15,000 United States troops onboard, was close to the coast of Ireland, and zigzagging to deter both U-Boats and German Aircraft that may be seeking her out. The British light Cruiser Curacoa of about 4,200 tons, was ahead of the troopship, as her escort, suddenly, Queen Mary was catching up with her escort, and on the leg of the zig zag that found her swinging fast towards the cruiser, and on a collision course. Queen Mary, some twenty times the size of Curacoa and steaming at 28.5 knots sliced the Cruiser neatly in two. She continued on her zig zag leg, whilst the two halves, had an ever widening gap of the North Atlantic growing between them. At the time of impact, many sailors on the upper deck of the Cruiser were tossed like falling Autumn leaves into the freezing and unforgiving waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The stern half sank quickly, taking many crew members trapped behind closed watertight doors to their death. The fore section of the ship soon followed the stern, and went down quickly. There had not been time to launch either boats or life rafts, it was all over so fast, and Ireland was 20 miles away. Survivors clung to wreckage, believing that Queen Mary would soon turn round and come back to rescue them. Not so, she quickly disappeared over the horizon, and out of sight. Captain Cyril carried out his sailing orders: "Do not stop until you safely reach port." An official enquiry into this disaster had to wait until after Victory Europe Day in 1945. The Commissioners of the Admiralty sued Cunard White Star Line, alleging that Queen Mary was responsible for the accident. One of the officers to survive, was Captain John Boutwood, who commanded Curacao, he emerged from an Admiralty inquiry acquitted without any reprimand. But, in court, the Judge held the Cruiser responsible, saying that: "Although the rules of the road at sea indicate that the overtaking vessel is to keep clear of the other, in this case, it did not apply." He judged that the Cruiser could have avoided the collision, even up to seconds before the impact. The Admiralty appealed this judgement, and this time, blame, was shared 1/3 to Queen Mary, 2/3 to Curacoa, once again the Admiralty were not happy, and the case went before the House of Lords, where the Appeal Court's decision was upheld. As a Trooper, Queen Mary had continued until August of 1945. Finally, she was sold to United States interests, and is moored at Long Beach in California, where she still attracts interest from the public at large. BROWNSETT, Frank, Ordinary Seaman, C/JX 316182, Missing Presumed Killed Portree (Stronuirinish) Cemetery, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Tragic, but Curacoa's crew knew the score (or the officers did anyway). Queen Mary had to get through; the cost in lives and propaganda if she was lost would have been horrendous. (She still holds the record for the largest number of people ever carried on board ship - 16,000, while operationg as a troopship). Speed was ultimately her main defence.
I believe it's still classified under Official Secrets Act, but historians have found anecdotal evidence that the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were routed through the North Atlantic using the ULTRA intercepts to help keep them clear of U-boats.
