The Haunted Decks Of The Queen Mary

**The Haunted Decks Of The Queen Mary** is a video made by Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, uploaded onto YouTube on February 17, 2017. It was the seventh episode of the first season of BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural, and the seventeenth episode overall. You can find it here.

## Description

What happens when we stay the night on a real-life ghost ship?

## Notable Events

Ryan and Shane interviewed with Everette Hoard, a commodore of the ship. It is the first episode where Ryan's thermal camera is used.

This is also the first episode to host an unofficial "return" to a site, as Ryan had visited the *Queen Mary* before BuzzFeed Unsolved, albeit swearing he would never return.

## Background

Named after Britain's Queen Mary, the *Queen Mary* was completed in the 1930s.On her inaugural voyage, on May 27, 1936, from Southampton, England, the boat served as the new benchmark for luxury, containing two cocktail bars, two swimming pools, five dining areas and lounges, a grand ballroom, and much more.

However, all that luxury would soon go to waste during World War II, when the *Queen Mary* was repurposed as a transportation vessel for troops and prisoners of war, and was appropriately painted gray. In fact, the ship was so much faster than enemy U-boats, she earned the nickname *The Gray Ghost*. However, the ship saw many deaths during its time abroad.

In 1936, Edgar Britten, the first captain of the *Queen Mary,* died of a stroke in his cabin. In 1949, senior second officer William Stark accidentally drank laundry detergent or acid stored in a gin bottle, thereby poisoning himself to death. Apparently, the captain at the time had had a gin bottle in his room. He had told Stark that since he'd done a good job that day, he could go have some gin, but failed to mention the correct bottle.

On October 2, 1942, the *Queen Mary* was being escorted from New York to Glasgow by another, much smaller, vessel, called the *HMS Carousel*. The *Carousel* was zigzagging in front of the *Queen Mary* to confuse potential U-boats and German bombers. However, the *Queen Mary,* traveling at 28.5 knots, unexpectedly caught up to the *Carousel*, and consequently collided with the ship, splitting the *HMS Carousel* in half.

While some members of *The Carousel* were killed instantly on impact, others were thrown into the freezing water, watching as the men who remained on board sank, trapped within the remains of the vessel. As for those left in the water that didn't die from hypothermia, it is said that the current of the *Queen Mary* carried them in, chopping them up in her propeller.

Due to war protocol, the captain of the *Queen Mary,* Cyril Illingworth, was not able to stop to rescue the passengers, and they pushed forward, reporting the incident to nearby British destroyers. By the time the British arrived, about two hours later, it was too late―many had already died from hypothermia. Of the 430 crew members on board the *HMS Carousel,* only 99 survived.

Other deaths include two women who drowned in the first class swimming pool, and a little boy who fell overboard near the pool. A cook also died during World War II, when he was pushed into the oven by Australian soldiers displeased with his cooking. He burned to death. In 1966, an eighteen-year-old crewman was crushed by door thirteen, an automatically closing door, during a water-type drill.

As for its famous ghostly activity, it is said that the screams of the *Carousel* passengers can be heard in the boiler room of the *Queen Mary,* and some claim that the bow of the ship is a "hot spot" for spiritual activity, due to the fact that it's where the *Queen Mary* made contact with the *Carousel.* Other "hot spots" include the engine room, the safe room, the R-Deck Forward Bow Storage, the wheelhouse, the propeller box, and the isolation ward, where sick passengers, and those diagnosed with a contagious disease, were housed away from the other passengers. It also served as a makeshift prison.

Several ghosts are also reported to haunt the swimming pool area: two women, one in 1930s clothing and the other in 1960s, that could possibly be the women who drowned there. Other pool ghosts include a little boy, likely the one who fell overboard, and a little girl named Jackie. The cook who died in the oven is also reportedly heard screaming and/or making noises in the area of the kitchen galley. The crewman who was crushed to death is sometimes seen wearing white coveralls.

Cabin B340 is, reportedly, the most haunted cabin on board. Ship workers that have been employed with *the Queen Mary* for decades have refused to go in the room by themselves. The cabin has reports of voices, beds shaking, water running, and lights being turned on by themselves. It has garnered so many reports of activity that the room was shut down and ripped apart twenty-five years ago.

On September 5, 2009, Ryan visited the *Queen Mary* with friends Alvin and Casey. At this time, he was interested in the paranormal, but did not believe in ghosts, and acted similarly to Shane now. He yelled at spirits to hurt him or show themselves, insulting them and calling them a "motherfucker," and a "coward," and claimed that "this whole ship [was] bullshit."

Ryan stayed in room B484 after taunting the ghosts to show themselves again. Throughout the night, he was poked repeatedly, but was too scared to open his eyes. In the morning, his toothpaste was pushed off of the counter by itself. Ryan then, famously, started to believe in ghosts.

Before entering the ship, Ryan shows Shane the footage of the toothpaste falling off of the counter, but Shane says that the only "force at play" is gravity. They also interview with Everette Hoard, commodore of the ship. Everett explains that he has had an unusual encounter while aboard the ship: when in the boiler room by himself, near the porthole, he tapped out the "shave-and-a-haircut" rhythm on the woodwork, and received the famous "two-bits" response from an unseen entity, on the other side of the wall.

Ryan and Shane explore the boiler room and the bow of the ship. Ryan explains that his thermal camera will be able to pick up on heat signatures, and that if any ghost emits a "hot spot" or a "cold spot," he will be able to see it on the camera. When Shane encourages Ryan to speak to the ghosts, he apologizes for what he said last time on the ship, and says that he thinks the spirits won't harm him.

Ryan and Shane knock the "shave-and-a-haircut" rhythm in the boiler room and receive two creaks in response. When they try it again, they get no response. When Ryan is recounting the cook's death to Shane, they hear a banging noise coming from the kitchen. One of the crew speaks up, saying they had heard a glass break earlier as well.

They also visit door thirteen, where the crewman was crushed. Ryan says that he feels "strange," and that he doesn't like it. Ryan reaches out to spirits and asks them to "make a bang... be nice?" They hear a bang, and Ryan jumps, while Shane says that it may be a machine turning on. Ryan scans the area with his thermal camera and scares himself, as the thermal camera makes a light perched a certain way look like a human person.

As the two head down to the isolation ward, a pigeon scares them. They then let the pigeon out and continue down, where they examine a sign detailing passengers who died on board. Ryan and Shane set up to stay in room B340, which, they find, is a dirty and empty room. When they turn their flashlights off, Ryan is uncomfortable with the fact that it is completely dark. While Ryan reaches out to the ghosts, Shane accidentally passes gas, scaring Ryan.

At 3:50 a.m., the two hear odd, unidentifiable screeching-chattering noises outside the room. At 4:10, Ryan hears what he thinks is a voice, and at 5:10, Shane resolves to go to sleep. At 7:00, Ryan asks if Shane had kicked him, which he admits to and apologizes. The two then pack up and leave, with Shane claiming that there are no ghosts in the *Queen Mary.*

The *Queen Mary* is estimated to have carried over 800,000 servicemen throughout the war. In 1947, the ship returned to the *Queen Mary* status, and in 1965, it was sold to the city of Long Beach, California. It is now docked permanently, and many paranormal investigators come through each year, searching for ghosts. But whether the *Queen Mary* truly holds spirits of the former passengers will remain unsolved.

## Theories

There were no official theories this episode.

## Quotes

* Shane: "Who's storing that in a gin bottle, though?"
	+ Ryan: "Apparently, the captain at the time had a gin bottle in his room, he said, 'You know, you've been doing a good job today, go to my room, pour yourself a drink.' He failed to mention there was acid, or I've also heard it was detergent..."
	+ Shane: "'Oh, this doesn't taste like―this is burning my tongue, I better swallow it!' You imagine [the captain], just a minute after the guy left the room, being like 'Oh! Oh no! Darn it!'"
	+ Ryan: "'Oh, shit, I didn't tell him not to drink the other bottle with the X's on it!' By the way, Shane, I have a bottle of whiskey in the room for you, if you want to go take a sip of it."
	+ Shane (getting up): "Oh, I'll go!"
* Shane (to the spirits): "Um... spirits? Spirit, *show yourself.*"
	+ Ryan: "No! Don't y―what're you doing?"
	+ Shane: "You said to be direct!"
	+ Ryan: "Yeah, but don't be Bruce Willis from *Die Hard!*"
	+ Shane (as Bruce Willis): "*Spirit!*"
* Shane: "Number thirteen, is this where it happened?"
	+ Ryan: "No, that's where the lubrication happened, heh. Lubrication oil pump controllers, to be exact."
		- Shane: "A little *seamen* lubrication? Huh?"
		- Ryan: "Jesus Christ. No."
* Ryan (screaming, calming down): "Oh, my God..."
	+ Shane: "The pigeon looked scared, too!"
	+ Ryan: "Oh, my God, I almost... My fucking heart almost exploded, dude..."
	+ Shane: "Your hard-on exploded?"
	+ Ryan: "What?"