By Los Angeles Daily News | Mercury News

By Courtney Tompkins, Southern Cali. News Group

Long Beach purchased the Queen Mary half a century ago, predicting the ship would serve as an emblem welcoming tourists along the coast for at least two hundred years.

The ship’s hull is corroded so severely from the inside that certain areas, including the ship’s engine room, could be prone to flooding.

“She’s like our Lady Liberty,” commented Mary Rohrer, who runs a nonprofit dedicated to restoring the ship.

Prevratil declined to be interviewed for this article.