One of Scotland’s most historic ocean liners, RMS Queen Mary, is said to be in urgent need of millions of pounds worth of urgent repairs, with the future of the ailing ship now in doubt.

The Clyde-built vessel, which once hosted presidents and film stars, has been docked in California in the US for years, however the firm responsible for its maintenance – Urban Commons – has now filed for bankruptcy.

According to Scotland on Sunday, authorities in California claim that a catalogue of “urgent and critical repairs” has not been carried out to the ship, with millions of pounds in repair funds unaccounted for, and escalating concerns over its structural integrity.        

The Queen Mary was the pride of Scotland when she was launched from the former John Brown's shipyard in 1934. She went on to transport troops during World War II and, in peacetime, welcomed aboard John F Kennedy and Winston Churchill, as well as Elizabeth Taylor and Fred Astaire.

She was retired from service in 1967 and the Californian city of Long Beach paid £2.8 million to turn her into a floating hotel.

However, those plans have failed to be realised and the current leaseholder Urban Commons, a Los Angeles real estate firm, is now facing financial troubles.

The municipal government in Long Beach tried to help with the repairs and allocated the firm around £16.5m, however it now claims that the company has not provided evidence that the money was “properly used and accounted for”.

The city authorities have now gone to court seeking declaratory relief against the company after it filed for bankruptcy in January. Documents filed in court warn that the absence of necessary maintenance and repairs has caused “significant issues and damage” to the vessel.

They also detail a catalogue of critical disrepair to the famous 77,000 ton ship, noting that its side shell has started to separate from its deck supports, with severe corrosion to plates which connect beams and girders to columns.

A series of repair work is also needed to stop leaking and degradation of the ship’s hull so as to prevent flooding and ensure its structural integrity, it adds.

Diane Rush, a former president of the Queen Mary Foundation, said: “Neglect and ignorance has characterised Long Beach administrators' decisions regarding their one and only world-famous landmark.

"Spending funds allocated for Queen Mary repairs was a waste of resources in their eyes.”

Bill Cwiklo, a former curator of the Queen Mary, said the situation facing the ship was “serious,” and pointed out that problems with its state of disrepair stretched back several decades.

He explained: “The shell plating has been an issue since the early 1990s. The preservation officer of the state of California offered to pay for 50 per cent of the cost of repair if the city of Long Beach paid the rest. The city tossed it back to the lessee and the lessee tossed it back to the city. Nothing happened and the state preservation officer withdrew the offer in disgust.”

The Long Beach government is currently discussing whether to transfer ownership of the vessel to the city’s harbour commission, but a final decision is not expected until the summer.

Urban Commons did not respond to Scotland on Sunday’s request for comment.