<P> Six miles of carpet, 220 cases of china, crystal and silver service, tapestries and paintings were removed and stored in warehouses for the duration of the war . The woodwork in the staterooms, the cabin - class dining room and other public areas was covered with leather . Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were the largest and fastest troopships involved in the war, often carrying as many as 15,000 men in a single voyage, and often travelling out of convoy and without escort . Their high speed and zigzag courses made it virtually impossible for U-boats to catch them . </P> <P> On 2 October 1942, Queen Mary accidentally sank one of her escort ships, slicing through the light cruiser HMS Curacoa off the Irish coast with a loss of 239 lives . Queen Mary was carrying thousands of Americans of the 29th Infantry Division to join the Allied forces in Europe . Due to the risk of U-boat attacks, Queen Mary was under orders not to stop under any circumstances and steamed onward with a fractured stem . Some sources claim that hours later, the convoy's lead escort returned to rescue 99 survivors of Curacoa's crew of 338, including her captain John W. Boutwood . This claim is contradicted by the liner's then Staff Captain (and later Cunard Commodore) Harry Grattidge, who records that Queen Mary's Captain immediately ordered the accompanying destroyers to look for survivors within moments of the Curacoa's sinking . </P> <P> In 25--30 July 1943, Queen Mary carried 15,740 soldiers and 943 crews (total 16,683), a standing record for the most passengers ever transported on one vessel . During this trip, while 700 miles (1,100 km) from Scotland during a gale, she was suddenly hit broadside by a rogue wave that may have reached a height of 28 metres (92 ft). An account of this crossing can be found in Carter's book . As quoted in the book, Carter's father, Dr. Norval Carter, part of the 110th Station Hospital on board at the time, wrote in a letter that at one point Queen Mary "damned near capsized...One moment the top deck was at its usual height and then, swoom! Down, over, and forward she would pitch ." It was calculated later that the ship rolled 52 degrees, and would have capsized had she rolled another 3 degrees . The incident inspired Paul Gallico to write his novel, The Poseidon Adventure (1969) and carry the incident to a fictional extreme . This was adapted as a 1972 film by the same name, in which the SS Poseidon is turned upside - down, and the trapped passengers try to escape . Parts of the film were shot in the actual Queen Mary, conveniently docked in Long Beach . </P> <P> During the war Queen Mary carried British Prime Minister Winston Churchill across the Atlantic for meetings with fellow Allied forces officials on several occasions . He was listed on the passenger manifest as "Colonel Warden". The ship was also used to return American troops from Europe after the war . </P>

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