It was May 27, 1936 when the Queen Mary made her maiden voyage.
In the years that followed, the cruise liner would cement herself in the history books.
Built in the United Kingdom in the 1930s, the Queen Mary was designed to link the Old World with the New, carrying passengers from England to New York. But when World War II broke out, it became a transport ship for thousands of troops, including William Spurrier.
"It was a journey and it was an adventure," Spurrier said.
The Southern California native was 20 years old and in the Army Air Corps the day he boarded the ship on his way to war.
"They said it was the Queen Mary and we all said ‘Wow, this is big!" he remembered.
Built to carry about 2,000 passengers in luxury, the ship had to be converted to carry up to 15,000 troops at a time. Spurrier said there were bunks everywhere, including in the elaborate Art Deco pool, which was drained and filled with bunks.
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"The tiered bunks were about five bunks high and if I remember there wasn't much room, like 18 inches in between bunks, so the bunk above you when the guy got in it, it was touching your nose."
During the war the Grand Salon was tuned into a mess hall, which was in constant use throughout the day. Troops had 20 minutes to eat before the next shift came in. Eggs had to be boiled 1,000 at a time using steam jetted up from the boiler room.
"She's a remarkable ship. She clearly was a military weapon but she was ultimately the ship that provided our freedoms and liberties and that's very moving,” said Randolph Churchill, great-grandson of Great Britain’s wartime prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill.
The elder Churchill used the Queen Mary as his headquarters at sea during the war.
"She's living history and seeing the thrill on people's faces when they come on board and to simply feel that part of history is a great excitement, as it was for me today."
It's a history which lives on 80 years after her maiden voyage.
The Queen Mary, long docked in Long Beach, admission to the ship will be free Friday in celebration of the 80th anniversary celebrations.
