<P> Queen Mary was fitted with 24 Yarrow boilers in four boiler rooms and four Parsons turbines in two engine rooms . The boilers delivered 400 pounds per square inch (28 bar) steam at 700 ° F (371 ° C) which provided a maximum of 212,000 shp (158,000 kW) to four propellers, each turning at 200 RPM . Queen Mary achieved 32.84 knots on her acceptance trials in early 1936 . </P> <P> In 1934 the new liner was launched by Queen Mary as RMS Queen Mary . On her way down the slipway, Queen Mary was slowed by eighteen drag chains, which checked the liner's progress into the River Clyde, a portion of which had been widened to accommodate the launch . </P> <P> When she sailed on her maiden voyage from Southampton on 27 May 1936, she was commanded by Sir Edgar T. Britten, who had been the master designate for Cunard White Star whilst the ship was under construction at the John Brown shipyard . Queen Mary measured 80,774 gross register tons (GRT). Her rival Normandie, which originally grossed 79,280 tonnes, had been modified the preceding winter to increase her size to 83,243 GRT (an enclosed tourist lounge was built on the aft boat deck on the area where the game court was), and therefore kept the title of the world's largest ocean liner . Queen Mary sailed at high speeds for most of her maiden voyage to New York, until heavy fog forced a reduction of speed on the final day of the crossing, arriving in New York Harbor on 1 June . </P> <P> Queen Mary's design was criticised for being too traditional, especially when Normandie's hull was revolutionary with a clipper - shaped, streamlined bow . Except for her cruiser stern, she seemed to be an enlarged version of her Cunard predecessors from the pre--First World War era . Her interior design, while mostly Art Deco, seemed restrained and conservative when compared to the ultramodern French liner . Queen Mary proved to be the more popular vessel than her larger rival, in terms of passengers carried . </P>

Who was the captain of the queen mary