SS Andrea Doria

**SS _Andrea Doria**_ was an Italian ocean liner, or passenger ship. It was owned by a ship line called the Italian Line. It was said to be the biggest, fastest, safest, and most beautiful ship in Italy after World War II. It could carry 1,221 passengers and 563 crew.

The ship was built by the Ansaldo Shipyards in Genoa, Italy. It was launched on June 16, 1951. Its maiden voyage, or first voyage, was on January 14, 1953. Three years later in 1956, it crashed with another ship, MS _Stockholm_, in the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, 1,706 people were on board. _Andrea Doria_ sank in 11 hours, but _Stockholm_ survived.

The _Andrea Doria_ was the last large ocean liner to sink before airplane travel became popular.

## Early history

_Andrea Doria_ was built at the Ansaldo Shipyards, which was a shipbuilding company in Genoa, Italy. At the time of building, she was:
- long
- wide
- weighed 29,100 gross tons
- could hold 1,221 passengers
- could hold 563 crew
It was designed for comfort. Its designer was an Italian architect called Minoletti. There was also another ship, _Cristoforo Colombo_, that looked exactly like _Andrea Doria_.

_Andrea Doria_ was a transatlantic ocean liner, which is a ship that crosses the Atlantic Ocean. The ship had three swimming pools, and was the first ship to have that many. Over 1 million dollars were spent on art to decorate the ship.

The ship was also built for safety. It had 11 watertight compartments. These are special dividers in a ship to keep water in one place. If two of them were filled, the ship would not sink. _Andrea Doria_ also had very advanced radar. Radar could warn the captain of the Andrea Doria if there was something in the path of the ship. However one big problem was that the ship often tilted too much to one side.

_Andrea Doria_ had two rows of lifeboats, which are small boats that can evacuate passengers if the ship sinks. However, if the ship tilted too much, half of the lifeboats could not be used. _Andrea Doria**s maiden voyage (first voyage) was on January 14, 1953.

## Before the collision

_Andrea Doria_ sank in the night between July 25, 1956, and July 26, 1956. When she sank, she had 1,134 passengers and 572 crew members, and her captain was Piero Calamai. She was sailing in the Atlantic Ocean. Her path was from Genoa, Italy, to New York, in the United States. _Andrea Doria_ entered very thick fog when it passed by Nantucket, which is a small island near Massachusetts. Soon, another ship entered the fog. This was SS _Stockholm_. SS _Stockholm_ was another passenger ship. Because of the fog, the two ships could not see each other. When they finally noticed each other, they tried to turn away. _Andrea Doria_ turned left to pass _Stockholm_. But _Stockholm_ turned right to try to pass _Andrea Doria_. Because of the fog, they could not see what each other was trying to do. At 11:10 PM of July 25, 1956, _Andrea Doria_ and _Stockholm_ crashed together.

## Sinking

_Stockholm_ crashed into the right side of _Andrea Doria_ near the middle. It made a large hole that was almost  deep. It broke open several of the watertight compartments on _Andrea Doria_. It also broke five fuel tanks. The fuel tanks were filled by 500 tons of water. _Stockholm_ and _Andrea Doria_ separated in 30 seconds. _Andrea Doria_ began to tilt to its right side. Soon, half of the lifeboats could not be used, because it was tilting too much. The weight of the fuel tanks that were filled by water also pulled it down. _Stockholm**s whole front end was destroyed, but it did not sink. 46 passengers on the _Andrea Doria_ were killed by the crash. Five crew members of the _Stockholm_ were also killed. However, one incredible survivor was Linda Morgan, an _Andrea Doria_ passenger who landed on the _Stockholm_ when they crashed.

Thirty minutes after the crash, the people on _Andrea Doria_ decided to abandon the ship. However, some crew had already left. This made it harder because no crew was there to help. However, there were still enough lifeboats to get everyone out safely. The _SS _Ile de France__, a French ship, arrived at the _Andrea Doria_ to help rescue passengers. It launched lifeboats to rescue passengers of the _Andrea Doria_. The _Ile de France_ had sailed only one day, so it had lots of supplies left to help the passengers of _Andrea Doria_. _Andrea Doria_ continued to tilt right, and eventually began to sink on 9:45 AM of July 26, 1956. Before that, at 9:00 AM, all the survivors were off the ship. At 10:00 AM, _Andrea Doria_ was tilted so far to the right that its windows touched the ocean. At 10:09 AM, the ship sank. This was 10 hours and 59 minutes after it had crashed with the _Stockholm_. The back of _Andrea Doria_ rose, and its left propeller lifted out of the water. Some lifeboats that were still on the ship broke off and floated away upside down. The ship had drifted 1.6 nautical miles (a measuring distance used at sea) from where it had crashed with the _Stockholm_.

A total of six different ships rescued passengers of the _Andrea Doria_, including the _Stockholm_ and _Ile de France_. _Stockholm_ was the last to arrive, because it was damaged. Many families had their hopes of seeing loved ones again destroyed. The most affected were those who were meeting members of several families immigrating to the United States in hope of new lives. The Chrysler Norseman, a prototype car headed to New York, was also lost with the other cars aboard _Andrea Doria_. A _Rolls-Royce_ luxury car was also on Andrea Doria.

## Causes of the sinking

A series of lawsuits were filed by both ship lines in response to the disaster. The reasons argued included:
- Heavy fog was the main reason for the collision and sinking. However, there were also some other causes.
    - The crew of _Andrea Doria_ did not use radar properly. They did not find out the place and speed of _Stockholm_ until the crash.
    - According to the _International Regulations for Preventing Collisions At Sea_, _Andrea Doria_ was supposed to turn right, not left. When _Andrea Doria_ turned left, it was actually heading towards the _Stockholm_.
    - The _Andrea Doria_ was moving too fast in foggy conditions.
    - Both ships were actually in different weather, until the crash. _Stockholm_ had only just entered the fog before the crash.
    - _Andrea Doria_ empty fuel tanks were not filled with water to make the ship stable.
    - A missing watertight door, which blocks water from going into another watertight compartment, was maybe a problem on the _Andrea Doria_.
    - The first mate on the _Stockholm_ made a mistake in reading the radar.

## Diving

_Andrea Doria_ landed on the ocean bottom sideways, with her left side facing up, in good condition. At first, the top of the shipwreck was in water about  deep. It was a popular destination for divers. However, the _Andrea Doria_ has become a difficult ship to explore. The wreck is at .

More recently, the top part of the ship has collapsed. Inside the ship, many supports have broken. The ship is slowly getting shorter as its weight presses downwards. The top of the wreck is now  below the water. Fifteen people have died exploring the _Andrea Doria_.

## Result

The front of _Stockholm_ was eventually fixed. About $1 million was spent. Now, _Stockholm_ is named _Athena_, and still sails.

Several books have been published about _Andrea Doria_. This is a list of some of them:
- _Alive on the Andrea Doria: The Greatest Sea Rescue in History_, by survivor Pierette Domencia, 2006
- _Collision Course: The Story of the Collision Between the 'Andrea Doria' and the 'Stockholm' _, by Alvin Moscow, 1959
- _Saved!: The Story of the Andrea Doria- The Greatest Sea Rescue in History_, by William Hoffer, 1979
- _Desperate Hours: The Epic Rescue of the Andrea Doria_, by Richard Goldstein, 2003

A memorial wreath was put at the place where _Andrea Doria_ sank in July 2002.

## Infobox (ship begin)


## Infobox (ship image)

- **ship image**: Andrea Doria USCG 1.jpg
- **ship caption**: The _SS Andrea Doria_, hours before she sank on July 26, 1956


## Infobox (ship career)

- **ship country**: Italy
- **ship name**: _Andrea Doria_
- **ship owner**: Italian Line
- **ship builder**: Ansaldo Shipyards of Genoa, Italy
- **ship launched**: 16 June 1951
- **ship maiden voyage**: 14 January 1953
- **ship in service**: 16 June 1951
- **ship out of service**: 26 July 1956
- **ship identification**: *Code letters and radio callsign ICEH
*
- **ship fate**: Capsized and sank on 26 July 1956, after colliding with the
- **ship status**: Wrecked, lying on starboard side on the sea floor


## Infobox (ship characteristics)

- **ship class**: _Andrea Doria_ class ocean liner
- **ship power**: Steam turbines
- **ship propulsion**: Twin propellers
- **ship capacity**: 1,241 passengers