RMS Queen Mary: Difference between revisions

''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. Indeed, only a handful of ships, such as the Polish destroyer [[ORP Błyskawica|ORP Blyskawica]], could even provide an escort. The Queens high speed and zigzag courses made it virtually impossible for [[U-boat]]s to catch them, although one attempted to attack the ship. On 25 May 1944, [[German submarine U-853|U-853]] spotted ''Queen Mary'' and submerged to attack, but the ship outran the U-boat before it could do so.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Underwood |first=Lamar |title=The Greatest Submarine Stories Ever Told. |date=2005 |publisher=Globe Pequot |isbn=1-59228-733-6 |pages=184–185}}</ref> Because of their importance to the war effort, Adolf Hitler offered a bounty of 1 million [[Reichsmark]]s and [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross|Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross]], Germany's highest military honor, to any U-boat captain that sank either ship.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web |title=The British Liner Queen Mary |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-british-liner-queen-mary/ |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=Warfare History Network |language=en-US}}</ref>