SS Andrea Doria 1956
Marker: recorded wreck position (Modern).
Key facts
| Name | SS Andrea Doria | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1956 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Modern | derived from year |
| Ship type | steamship, ocean liner | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Foundered | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | Italy | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Sea / ocean | North Atlantic Ocean | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 87 km from land |
| Position | 40.4901, -69.8508 | Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0) |
About the wreck
SS Andrea Doria (pronounced [anˈdrɛːa ˈdɔːrja]) was a transatlantic ocean liner of the Italian Line (Società di navigazione Italia), put into service in 1953. She is widely known from the extensive media coverage of her sinking on July 26, 1956, which included the rescue of 1,660 of her 1,706 passengers and crew.
Named after the 16th-century Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, the ship had a gross register tonnage of 29,100 and a capacity of about 1,200 passengers and 500 crew. Of all Italy's ships at the time, Andrea Doria was the largest, fastest and supposedly safest. Launched on 16 June 1951, she was home-ported at Genoa, and began her maiden voyage on 14 January 1953.
On 25 July 1956, the New York City–bound vessel was approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. There was thick fog and when Andrea Doria finally noticed the eastbound passenger liner Stockholm of the Swedish American Line, they were already too close to each other and on a collision course. Struck on her starboard side, the top-heavy Andrea Doria immediately started to list severely and take on water, which left half of her lifeboats unusable.
Diving & visiting
Due to the luxurious appointments and initially good condition of the wreck, with the top of the wreck lying initially in 27 fathoms (49 m; 162 ft) of water, Andrea Doria has been a frequent target of treasure divers. It is commonly referred to as the "Mount Everest of scuba diving." The comparison to Mt. Everest originated after a July 1983 dive on Andrea Doria by Captain Alvin Golden during a CBS News-televised interview of the divers following their return from a dive expedition to the wreck aboard RV Wahoo. The depth, water temperature, and currents combine to put the wreck beyond the scope of recreational diving.
Artifact recovery on Andrea Doria has resulted in additional loss of life. At least 22 scuba divers have lost their lives diving on the wreck, and diving conditions at the wreck site are considered very treacherous. Strong currents and heavy sediment that can reduce visibility to zero pose serious hazards to diving this site. Dr. Robert Ballard (who found the wrecks of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, the German battleship Bismarck, the American aircraft carrier Yorktown and torpedo boat PT-109) who visited the site in a US Navy submersible in 1995, reported that thick fishing nets draped the hull. An invisible web of thin fishing lines, which can snag scuba gear, increases danger.
Location
- Recorded position: 40.4901, -69.8508 (Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: North Atlantic Ocean
- Nearest coast: United States
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article SS Andrea Doria (revision 1378826249), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck site”, “Diving fatalities”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- United States lightship LV-117 24 km
- U-550 1944 · 39 km
- Nantucket Shoals 1976 · 69 km
- SS Pendleton 122 km
- SS City of Columbus 128 km
- U-853 1945 · 139 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · North Atlantic Ocean · Modern