Letters to the Editor: The Queen Mary wasn’t built to sit in seawater for 87 years. This is how to save it

To the editor: RMS Queen Mary was launched in 1934 from the John Brown and Co. shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland. My grandfather was the yard detective then. (“After decades of rocky seas in Long Beach, Queen Mary in danger of sinking. Can it be saved?” June 1)

My parents and I sailed on her in June 1952 from New York and returned on her that September. My husband and I stayed aboard her in Long Beach at least three times for Scottish events.

Steel hulls weren’t meant to last 87 years. Repairing the Queen Mary’s would be hugely expensive.

Why not hoist the ship onto the dock, cut off the bottom and leave a few of the passenger decks so she can continue to be a hotel, tourist attraction and historic site? It would preserve the silhouette we love, and we could still walk the top deck and breathe the sea air.

Kay Devonshire, Santa Monica

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To the editor: The Queen Mary and I are of an age when dancing jazz was still the rage. We both began our maiden voyages in 1936, although her “gestation period” of two years was longer than mine.

I was a passenger on one of her Atlantic crossings and have shared “birthday” dinners with her in Long Beach. Now that we are both in our 80s and need repairs, I hope the Queen will be taken care of and continue to delight future generations.

Janet Cameron Hoult, Culver City