John Brown & Company in Clydebank in Scotland, begin the major task of constructing 'Queen Mary' Ocean Liner then know as 'Hull Number 534', which began in December 1930 on the River Clyde. Before building took place sixteen different scale models were constructed and 7,000 experiments took places on calm water alone. Work was halted almost exactly a year later, in December 1931 due to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The project was only revived in 1934, after the merger of White Star Line, 'Hull Number 552' which became Queen Elizabeth, with a substantial British government loan.