With all the press buzzing about our observations about Titanic and the beautiful documentary by James Cameron that was released last night on the Discovery network, it is hard to talk about anything else but Titanic.
Despite this "titanic" uproar, I would like to change the topic for another Lost Liner that today will mark a quite ominous anniversary. Tonight at 11:10 pm in dense fog, the Swedish-American liner, Stockholm collided with the pride of the Italian merchant fleet, the beautiful Andrea Doria about 50 miles southwest of Nantucket Island Massachusetts 49 years ago. Nautical Research Group has spent many decades exploring and researching this "floating art museum" and has amassed the largest collection of Andrea Doria items in the world. The rescue of over 1700 passengers has been described as the "greatest open sea rescue" of all time. Unlike Titanic and the Empress of Ireland's massive toll of lives lost, the Andrea Doria lost 46 passengers that night, primarily in the impact zone where the Stockholm impaled itself into the starboard hull, just below the bow wing bridge.
Next year there will be a huge reunion of the Andrea Doria survivors, tentatively planned to be held at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in King's Point, Long Island, New York. Survivors, family and their guests will be treated to a wonderful day of activities and fine dining. In order to mark the 50th anniversary, Andrea Doria survivor Pierette Domenica Simpson will be publishing a book about the survivor's perspective of this tragedy and will lay the framework for uncovering the real reasons why the Stockholm collided and sank the Andrea Doria. This book will become a classic and will finally solve the mystery of how this accident could have occurred in the era of radar. I will give further information about this book as the publication date approaches.
The state of decay on the Andrea Doria is quite amazing. All of the top deck levels above the hull have collapsed and lie on the bottom of the ocean like a huge junk pile. Even Gimbel's Hole in the Foyer Deck has twisted upon itself and the opening can not be penetrated. In the mid-1980's, I discovered that there was more damage inflicted by the reinforced "ice-breaking" bow of the Stockholm on the Andrea Doria than was ever envisioned by its Ansaldo builders. It appears that the Stockholm's bow had even breached the starboard side keel as it collided at nearly full speed into the most vulnerable spot on the Andrea Doria. Over the past twenty years, this keel breach has expanded throughout the hull of the Andrea Doria and now threatens to separate the entire bow section of the ship, from the forecastle to the tip of the bow, from the remainder of the ship. Strong currents and relatively shallow waters at 265 feet have taken its toll on the Andrea Doria and even Titanic is in much better shape in comparison to this once-proud Italian liner.
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