Queen Mary sinks cruiser
2nd October 1942: In a little known episode a tragic mistake at sea leads to the sudden death of over 300 men

Operation Bolero - the plan to bring hundreds of thousands of US servicemen to Britain for the invasion of Europe - was now getting into to full swing. The U-boats posed a threat but the use of the great ocean going cruise liners steaming at full speed on a zig zag course meant that this could mitigated.

In October 1942 the RMS Queen Mary, holder of the Blue Riband record speed in crossing the Atlantic, was bringing around 15,000 men of the US 29th Division to Britain. As she came north of Ireland on the 2nd October 1942 she was joined by HMS Curacoa, providing an anti-aircraft escort for the last leg of the journey into Scotland.
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