SS Andrea Doria

The SS Andrea Doria was an ocean liner sailing from Genoa, Italy for the Italian Line. The ship was named after a famous Genoese admiral named Andrea Doria.

The ship slid into the water on June 16, 1951. The ship was considered to be one of the most beautiful ocean liners made after World War II. Her maiden voyage came on January 14, 1953.

On July 25, 1956, in one of history's most famous ship accidents, the Andrea Doria was sailing in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nantucket, to New York, New York from Genoa. At 11:10 p.m., in heavy fog, the SS Stockholm of the Swedish-American Line and the Andrea Doria were approaching each other head-on in a well-used shipping corridor. For reasons unknown, the Andrea Doria attempted to avoid a collision by steering to the left, instead of following the nautical tradition of passing on the right. Compounded by the extremely thick fog, the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm collided, with the sharp icebreaking prow of the Stockholm piercing the starboard side of the Doria. Approximately 46 of the 1,706 passengers were killed in the collision.

After the collision the ship began to quickly take on water, and started to list severely to the starboard side. The decision to abandon ship was made within minutes of impact. However, lifeboat operations were difficult since half of the lifeboats were on the port side, which made them unlaunchable due to the severe list. Thus, the Doria required assistance in rescuing its passengers. Passengers unable to use the lifeboats on the Doria were eventually rescued by the Stockholm, as well as the SS Ile de France, a smaller July 26, in an event covered widely by local media.

While the Stockholm was being towed to port for repairs, crewmembers discovered an additional survivor of the collision in the wreckage of the Doria that was stuck to the prow of the Stockholm. Linda Morgan, a passenger in Cabin 52 on the Doria, where the Stockholm struck, had survived the impact and was still alive in the wreckage.

Due to the luxurious appointments and relatively good condition of the wreck, with the top of the wreck lying initially in only 160 feet (50 m) of water, the Doria is a frequent target of Treasure Divers, and is frequently referred to as the "Mount Everest of Scuba Diving." Indeed, two divers, Peter Gimbel and Joseph Fox, managed to locate the wreck of the Doria the day after it sank, publishing pictures of the wreck in Time Magazine. Gimbel later went on to conduct a number of salvage operations on the ship, including salvaging the First Class Bank Safe in 1981, eventually opening the safe on live television in 1984, although it yielded little other than American