GECOPHONES ON THE R.M.S. QUEEN MARY

The great R.M.S. Queen Mary conundrum

It is no secret that GEC supplied telephones and switchboards for the ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary.  But telephones keep appearing in the market place purporting to have been installed on this ship.  Also to note is that the ship was refitted after the second world war and returned to sea in July 1947.  There is no evidence, as yet, to whether the same telephones were refitted or new ones used.  Another point to mention is that when telephones were replaced later in life due to faults, were these new replacements or telephones held in a buffer stock?

The problem is that Gecophones are notorious for being, undated, un-numbered and of differing types.

This page attempts to advise on what to look for in a telephone from the Queen Mary as the sale will be at a premium.

1. Ask to see the components on the base plate.  Queen Mary suite telephones had buzzers and not bells.  So bell gongs should NOT be evident.

2. Ask for the date on the capacitor.  The date should be 35 or 36 and not later as the ship sailed in May 1936.

3. Look at the handset rest.  The cradle should have four dumpy uprights and a thin neck (Introduced in 1934).  A thick neck was available later in 1948, so this would not be appropriate for the original Queen Mary telephones.  See pictures below.

4. The case will most probably be a dull, off white shade, due to age.

5. The telephone should not have a dial and a dummy plate with a central label was fitted originally.  But, if the phone has a dial then that should not detract from purchasing as the telephone can then be used for outgoing calls.

6. The dial label can be easily replicated with tea stained paper.

7. The circuit diagram will most probably be numbered as KS8197 on original telephones.

8. The phone was most probably a GEC Model 175 with a buzzer replacing the normal bells.

During the life of the Gecophone, GEC supplied a number of ocean liners with these telephones.  In 1933 they supplied sets for the Q.T.E.V. Queen of Bermuda and these would have been fitted with tall antlers, but most of the telephones seen for sale are tropicalised (thick neck - 1948 onwards) and this is thought to be a source of many of the so called Queen Mary telephones.

As usual with Gecophones, the capacitor date is probably the best way to date the telephone.  If the capacitor has been replaced then this will be self evident as the solder will shiny.  Capacitors are very efficient and normally never fail, so any replacement should be questioned.

Click here for the GEC boats section.  Each boat can be selected and each picture can be enlarged by clicking on it.

Gecophone main page (all makes) - good place to check unmarked Gecophones.

Original stubby cradle As fitted to Queen Mary telephones Used on both black and white coloured telephones	Stubby cradle introduced in 1948 Tropicalised and has a thick neck at the bottom Not used on the Queen Mary
Original cradle, the same as the GPO Used by GEC before the introduction of the stubby type Not used on Queen Mary

Last revised: August 01, 2025