Andrea Doria |

New Video – Sinking of the Italian Line’s ANDREA DORIA

February 16, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Cruise and Liner History – The Italian Line’s ANDREA DORIA…

The Italian Line’s Andrea Doria was one of the largest, most luxurious, and most beautiful passenger ships in the world – indeed, it was one of the most gorgeous ocean liners ever built – 700 feet long with sweeping lines, lovely decor, and expensive artwork. However, it had design problems affecting its stability and seaworthiness; these flaws contributed to severe listing after the collision of July 25, 1956.

While steaming west in the foggy North Atlantic late that evening, the ship collided with the east-bound Swedish liner Stockholm about 50 miles southeast of Nantucket Island and 200 miles east of New York City. Fifty-one people were killed in the accident; hundreds needed rescue. Many crew members of the Andrea Doria were among the first to abandon ship (a contravention of proud maritime tradition); their cowardly absence contributed to widespread panic during the rescue. Many injuries resulted. Passengers dropped children into lifeboats, though this was not necessary. Norma Di Sandro, age four, died in a Boston hospital after being dropped.

The Stockholm suffered a crumpled forward section and eventually limped into New York harbor, while the Andrea Doria slipped beneath the waves on the morning of July 26 after an 11-hour wallow. The ship rests today in 235 feet of cold, dark, swirling, shark-infested water. See Life magazine’s coverage here with a piece by Walter Lord, author of “A Night to Remember” about the Titanic.

The Unsinkable Andrea Doria – 55th Anniversary

July 27, 2011 By Michael L. Grace 1 Comment

The Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria collided with the Stockholm on July 25th 1956. She rolled over and sank the next morning. 51 lives were lost.

Cruise Line History: The Unsinkable Andrea Doria – 55th Anniversary

By the mid-1950s, with the postwar passenger boom at its peak, more than 50 passenger liners sailed the sealanes between Europe and America. Among the most splendid were two new ships of the Italian Line, the Cristoforo Colombo and the Andrea Doria. They were built for luxury, not speed, and to take advantage of the sunnier southern route. The Andrea Doria was the first liner to possess three outdoor swimming pools, one each for first, cabin and tourist class. Her lines were graceful, her public rooms lavishly decorated and crowded with artworks and her most desirable first-class suites as rarified as any that had come before. She was a superb expression of her time and nationality, a ship that combined 1950s modernity with a keen awareness of Italy’s extraordinary artistic heritage.

She was also equipped with the latest in navigational equipment, including two sets of radar, the still-developing technology that had transformed the maritime battlefields of World War II and was now standard equipment in the merchant marine. But even if the radar failed and somehow a collision happened, the Andrea Doria was in theory unsinkable. Her 11 watertight compartments were so constructed that she would remain afloat if any two were breached –more than that her builders could not imagine — and so that she would never take on a list of more than 15 degrees. As an extra safety precaution, her lifeboats could still be launched if the list reached 20 degrees. Yet the Andrea Doria was destined to become the last great lost ship of a transatlantic passenger era that was about to fade away.

Her story provides vivid evidence that “despite all the safety gadgets, the mind is supreme and the mind is fallible.” The quotation belongs to Harry Manning, first captain of the record-breaking United States reflecting on the collision between the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm. The same words could equally have been written following the loss of the Titanic or the Empress of Ireland. Add to human frailty a goodly portion of bad luck, and the collision that led to the sinking takes on the kind of inevitability that prompted William Hoffer in his book Saved! to comment that “the two ships seemed drawn together by a magnet of fate.” And despite many hours of testimony after the accident and much analysis, no one will ever be completely sure precisely how it happened.

SS ANDREA DORIA

June 3, 2011 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Liner History: Excellent video of the SS Andrea Doria. The magnificent passenger ship was an ocean liner for the Italian Line (Società di navigazione Italia) home ported in Genoa, Italy, most famous for its sinking in 1956.

Cruise Liner History: SS ANDREA DORIA

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SS Andrea Doria was an ocean liner for the Italian Line (Società di navigazione Italia) home ported in Genoa, Italy. Named after the 16th-century Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, the Andrea Doria had a gross tonnage of 29,100 and a capacity of about 1,200 passengers and 500 crew. For a country attempting to rebuild its economy and reputation after World War II, the Andrea Doria was an icon of Italian national pride. Of all Italy’s ships at the time, Andrea Doria was the largest, fastest and supposedly safest. Launched on June 16, 1951, the ship undertook its maiden voyage on January 14, 1953.

On July 25, 1956, approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts bound for New York City, the Andrea Doria collided with the eastward-bound MS Stockholm of the Swedish American Line in what became one of history’s most famous maritime disasters. Struck in the side, the Andrea Doria immediately started to list severely to starboard, which left half of her lifeboats unusable. The consequent shortage of lifeboats might have resulted in significant loss of life, but improvements in communications and rapid responses by other ships averted a disaster similar in scale to the Titanic disaster of 1912. 1660 passengers and crew were rescued and survived, while 46 people died as a consequence of the collision. The evacuated luxury liner capsized and sank the following morning.

The incident and its aftermath were heavily covered by the news media. While the rescue efforts were both successful and commendable, the cause of the collision and the loss of the Andrea Doria afterward generated much interest in the media and many lawsuits. Largely because of an out-of-court settlement agreement between the two shipping companies during hearings immediately after the disaster, no determination of the cause(s) was ever formally published. Although greater blame appeared initially to fall on the Italian liner, more recent discoveries have indicated that a misreading of radar on the Swedish ship may have initiated the collision course, leading to some errors on both ships and resulting in disaster.

The Andrea Doria was the last major transatlantic passenger vessel to sink before aircraft became the preferred method of travel.

History

Features

Andrea Doria had a length of 212 m (697 feet), a beam of 27 m (90 ft), and a gross tonnage of 29,100. The propulsion system consisted of steam turbines attached to twin screws, enabling the ship to achieve a service speed of convert|23|kn|km/h, with a top speed of convert|26|kn|km/h.

Andrea Doria was not the largest vessel nor the fastest of its day: those distinctions went to the RMS Queen Elizabeth and the SS United States, respectively. Instead, Andrea Doria was designed for luxury by the famous Italian architect, Minoletti.

Since it sailed the southern Atlantic routes, Andrea Doria was the first ship to feature three outdoor swimming pools, one for each class (first, cabin, and tourist).

The ship was capable of accommodating 218 first-class passengers, 320 cabin-class passengers, and 703 tourist-class passengers, and 563 crew on ten decks.

With over $1 million spent on artwork and the decor of the cabins and public rooms, including a life-size statue of Admiral Doria, many consider the ship to have been one of the most beautiful ocean liners ever built.

ANDREA DORIA – The fabulous Italian Line ship whose fate was sealed by the Swedish America Line’s STOCKHOLM.

November 8, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Joanna Coleman’s terrific color footage from her terrific site on YOUTUBE of the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria in the 1950′s which sunk after colliding with the MV Stockholm.

LINER AND SOCIAL HISTORY — ANDREA DORIA – The fabulous Italian Line ship whose fate was sealed by the Swedish America Line’s STOCKHOLM.

By the mid-1950s, with the postwar passenger boom at its peak, more than 50 passenger liners sailed the sea-lanes between Europe and America.
Among the most splendid were two new ships of the Italian Line, the Cristofor Colombo and the Andrea Doria. They were built for luxury, not speed, and to take advantage of the sunnier southern route.

The Andrea Doria was the first liner to possess three outdoor swimming pools, one each for first, cabin and tourist class. Her lines were graceful, her public rooms lavishly decorated and crowded with artworks and her most desirable first-class suites as rarified as any that had come before. She was a superb expression of her time and nationality, a ship that combined 1950s modernity with a keen awareness of Italy’s extraordinary artistic heritage.

We are pleased to share the following feature story on the Andrea Doria from NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY…

SS ANDREA DORIA by Scott Houston McBee

I was initially drawn to the Andrea Doria at the age of 14 after reading the book, Collision Course, by Alvin Moscow. The book tells of the Andrea Doria’s birth, her brief but glorious life, and her tragic end, in the summer of 1956.

To me the Andrea Doria embodied the hope and optimism that Italy was searching for after the War. I was very moved by the story of her master, Captain Piero Calamai, who after a distinguished career with the Italian Line decided never to return to the sea after the Andrea Doria’s sinking.

He was quoted as saying “When I was a boy and all my life, I loved the sea. Now I hate it.”

He died after a long illness in April of 1972.

In the late 1940’s Italy had lost most of her passenger ships to the War. The Italian Line sought to revive its postwar liner fleet in order to restore Italy’s place in international passenger shipping. The creation of the Andrea Doria was based on the principle that Italy’s new postwar fleet had to communicate a new message about Italy itself: Italy was no longer a belligerent adversary but a beautiful country brimming with art and culture.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE AND READ THE FULL STORY COURTESY OF NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY…

Filed Under: ITALIAN LINE, STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: Andrea Doria, CRUISE LINE HISTORY, cruise ship history, CRUISE SHIPS, ITALIAN LINE, JOANNA COLEMAN, Liner History, liners, MV STOCKHOM, new york social diary, sinking, steamship history, youtube

HISTORY of the ITALIAN LINE

September 4, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

SOCIAL HISTORY and LINER HISTORY – THE ITALIAN LINE

ITALIAN LINE HISTORY

The Italian Line or Italia Line, also known as the Italia di Navigazione S.p.A., was a passenger shipping line that operated regular transatlantic service between Italy and the United States, as well as Italy and South America. During the late years ’60, the company was also heavily involved in cruising. It later, from 1981, concentrated her activity in worldwide freight and containers traffic service.

The Italia Genova was started on January 1, 1937, coming from Italia Flotte Riunite (United Fleets Italy), when the Italian government encouraged the merger of Genoa-based Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI), Turin-based Lloyd Sabaudo, and Trieste-based Cosulich STN, which was previously an Austro-Hungaric company. SS Giulio Cesare, built in 1923, in Italian Line service 1932-1937

The new company acquired the Cosulich-owned MS Saturnia and MS Vulcania, the Lloyd Sabaudo-owned SS Conte Rosso, SS Conte Biancamano and SS Conte Grande and the NGI-owned SS Giulio Cesare, SS Duilio, SS Roma and MS Augustus. The same year two previously commissioned ocean liners were delivered to the company: SS Rex, who captured the Blue Riband in 1933, and SS Conte di Savoia.

During World War II, the company lost many of its ships, including the Rex and the Conte di Savoia. Other vessels were captured by the United States and converted into troopships; four of them survived the war: Conte Biancamano, Conte Grande, Saturnia, and Vulcania.

Commercial service was resumed only in 1947, under the company’s new name Società di navigazione Italia. In addition to the four vessels returned by United States, two new vessels, SS Andrea Doria and SS Cristoforo Colombo were commissioned in 1953 and 1954, respectively, to show the world that the country had recovered from the war and to re-establish the nation’s pride. However, in 1956, only three years after she was commissioned, the Andrea Doria was involved in a collision and sank. The company was swift to order a replacement for its sunken flagship, and the new SS Leonardo da Vinci was delivered in 1960. The ship was based on the same design as Andrea Doria, but was larger and featured many technical innovations.

In the late 1950s, the arrival of the jet aircraft had not yet had a notable effect on passenger numbers in the United States – Mediterranean traffic, and the Italian Line decided to order another pair of new ships for the trade. Plans for these were already being made in 1958, but the construction took longer than expected and the ships were not completed until 1965, as SS Michelangelo and SS Raffaello. Unfortunately the ships were built too late to be truly profitable on the North Atlantic route. Although planned from the start for alternative cruising, the ships had several design features that made their use as cruise ships very difficult.

THE ANDREA DORIA TRAGEDY HAPPENED 57 YEARS AGO

August 16, 2010 By Michael L. Grace 1 Comment

THE ANDREA DORIA TRAGEDY HAPPENED 57 YEARS AGO.

Social History and Cruise History. Looking back to July 25, 1956.

The 57th Memorial Anniversary of the sinking of the Andrea Doria. The first SOS reached the Coast Guard station in East Moriches, Long Island, and an armada of ships were dispatched to rescue more than 700 passengers.

Struck in the side, the top-heavy Andrea Doria immediately started to list severely to starboard, which left half of her lifeboats unusable. The consequent shortage of lifeboats might have resulted in significant loss of life, but improvements in communications and rapid responses by other ships averted a disaster similar in scale to the RMS Titanic disaster of 1912. 1660 passengers and crew were rescued and survived, while 46 people died as a consequence of the collision. The evacuated luxury liner capsized and sank the following morning.

Ad from Holiday Magazine a year before the Andrea Doria tragedy.

Great Liners of the 20th Century

January 5, 2010 By Michael L. Grace

YOUTUBE Video: The Great Liners of the 20th Century – Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse, Deutschland, Amerika, Lusitania, mauretania, Olympic, Titanic, France, Britannic, Imperator, Vaterland, Aquitania, Ile de France, Cap Arcona, Bremen, Europa, Rex, Normandie, Batory, Queen Mary, Wilhelm Gustloff, Nieuw Amsterdam, America, Queen Elizabeth, Willem Ruys, Caronia, Flandre, Maasdam, United States, Andrea Doria, Saxonia, Rotterdam, Leonardo da Vinci, France, Michelangelo, Queen Elizabeth 2.

Filed Under: CRUISING THE PAST VIDEOS Tagged With: america, Amerika, Andrea Doria, aquitania, Batory, BREMEN, Britannic, Cap Arcona, caronia, Deutschland, europa, Flandre, France, Ile de France, imperator, Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse, Leonardo da Vinci, Lusitania, Maasdam, Mauretania, Michelangelo, Nieuw Amsterdam, Normandie, olympic, queen elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth 2, queen mary, rex, Rotterdam, Saxonia, Titanic, United States, Vaterland, Wilhelm Gustloff, willem ruys

HAPPY HALLOWEEN aboard the ANTONIA GRAZA, IT’S DELOVELY, COSTUMES AND DRAG

October 31, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Happy Halloween aboard the fictional SS ANTONIA GRAZA, IT’S DELOVELY, COSTUMES and DRAG.

The photo is from Ghost Ship (2002) – A horror film directed by Steve Beck. The fictional ship Antonia Graza featured in the movie is based on a real life Italian ocean liner, the SS Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956 after colliding with the MS Stockholm near Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA. The film starred Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, and Emily Browning. The film was a dud at the box office, panned by most critics, but the photo above is certainly interesting.

Doomed American liner the SS Independence – Eerie view.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Ship Disaster Tagged With: Andrea Doria, depression, GHOST SHIPS, halloween, italian lines, ms stockholm, santa monica blvd., ss independence, Titanic, west hollywood

Cruise History: The SS ANDREA DORIA – Tribute to a great Italian Line ship and its tragic end.

January 21, 2009 By Michael L. Grace

Great video showing the wonderful Italian Liner SS Andrea Doria from her golden years to her tragic sinking. The fabulous SS Andrea Doria — we tribute the great Italian Line and their wonderful ship. We also salute all those loyal cruise passengers who have continued to travel over the years. They are the living history of what it was like to sail during the golden age of passenger liner travel. One such great lady is a regular contributor to cruise addicts. Check out the SHIPMAVEN. Construction of the SS Andrea Doria… SS Andrea Doria was an ocean liner for the Italian Line (Società di navigazione Italia) home ported in Genoa, Italy. Named after the 16th-century Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, the Andrea Doria had a gross tonnage of 29,100 and a capacity of about 1,200 passengers and 500 crew. For a country attempting to rebuild its economy and reputation after World War II, the Andrea Doria was an icon of Italian national pride. Of all Italy’s ships at the time, Andrea Doria was the largest, fastest and supposedly safest. Launched on June 16, 1951, the ship undertook its maiden voyage on January 14, 1953. SS Andrea Doria… On July 25, 1956, approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts bound for New York City, the Andrea Doria collided with the eastward-bound MS Stockholm of the Swedish American Line in what became one of history’s most famous maritime disasters. Struck in the side, the Andrea Doria immediately started to list severely to starboard, which left half of her lifeboats unusable. The consequent shortage of lifeboats might have resulted in significant loss of life, but improvements in communications and rapid responses by other ships averted a disaster similar in scale to the Titanic disaster of 1912. 1660 passengers and crew were rescued and survived, while 46 people died as a consequence of the collision.[1] The evacuated luxury liner capsized and sank the following morning. Life Magazine coverage of the SS Andrea Doria sinking… The incident and its aftermath were heavily covered by the media. While the rescue efforts were both successful and commendable, the cause of the collision and the loss of the Andrea Doria afterward generated much interest in the media and many lawsuits. Largely because of an out-of-court settlement agreement between the two shipping companies during hearings immediately after the disaster, no resolution of the cause(s) was ever formally accomplished. Although the majority of blame appeared initially to fall to the Italian liner, more recent discoveries have indicated a likelihood that a misreading of radar on the Swedish ship may have initiated the collision course that led to some errors on both ships that resulted in the disaster. The Andrea Doria was the last major transatlantic passenger vessel to sink before aircraft became the preferred method of travel. Newsreel Video on YouTube…