When we think of a weather-related cruise ships sinking, we think of The Titanic. Well long after the Titanic sinking came the disaster of the Andria Doria. One was due to ice and the other due to fog.
Making its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in 1953, the Andrea Doria did indeed have all the “bells and whistles”. The ship was 697 feet long and weighed 29,000 tons. It included three outdoor swimming polls, famous paintings, and surrealist murals. There was also a life-sized bronze statue of Andrea Doria, as well. There were a number of safety features that were included. It had a double hull and was divided into 11 watertight compartments Any two of these could be filled with water and the ship would still be safe. There were 6 steel lifeboats two 70-person motorboats with inboard radio transmitters. It also had a state of the art radar warning system.
The Andrea Doria completed 100 TransAtlantic crossings from 1953 to 1956. The ship departed from Genoa, Italy on July 17, 1956, and made three stops around the Meditteranean before partaking on a 9-day ocean voyage across the Atlantic with a crew of 572 and 1,134 passengers which included immigrants, business people, and vacationers.
On July 25th, the SS Andrea Doria entered the more heavily trafficked waters off the coast of New England. On that Wednesday the Swedish cruise ship M.S. Stockholm departed the Port of New York on its way to Gothenburg, Sweden just before noon. The Stockholm was one of the smaller cruise ships of that time (524 feet) and it accommodated 548 passengers. The ship’s prow was fitted with a steel rake designed to smash through thick ice. July was a very warm and humid one when the Stockholm departed but skies were mainly clear and visibility was good. As the Andrea Doria continued to move toward the U.S. East Coast it began to run into patches of fog. The fog became more prevalent as the afternoon progressed into the evening. Fog around the New England Coast is not unusual during the summer months, in an area where warm and cold ocean currents come together. addition, when humidity levels are high, the cooler ocean waters enhance condensation.
Captain Piero Calamai of the Andrea Doria reduced his forward speed only slightly when he began to move toward the thick fog. The standard rules indicate that captains should slow ships to a crawl under these conditions, It was common, however, for captains to not adhere to the rules if they were running behind on time. The captain did activate the fog-warning whistle and closed the watertight doors. Meanwhile, the Stockholm continued to progress under clear conditions and the crew was unaware of the fog that they would soon encounter. The air temperature at that time was reported to be around 70 degrees.
At about 10:45 p.m. the Andrea Doria’s radar saw a blip on the screen which was the Stockholm. The Stockholm saw the Andrea Doria on its radar, as well, as it moved into a much denser fog. It was only after a later investigation that there was a major problem with the radar on the Stockholm and it misplaced the Andrea Doria’s position.
Instead of avoiding each other, both ships made maneuvers that put them on a direct collision course. Around 11:10 p.m. Captain Calarmi saw the Stockholm’s lights through the thick fog.
The Stockholm, crashed into the Andrea Doris with unbelievable force and penetrated about 30 feet into its hull. It stayed lodged in the Andria Doria for several seconds before breaking loose and leaving a massive hole.
It was later determined that at the moment of collision, 46 people were crushed to death. A four-year-old Italian girl was dropped by accident headfirst into a lifeboat and her father died of a heart attack later. Another woman died trying to board a lifeboat.
In the midst of the tragedy, there was a “miracle” A fourteen-year-old girl Linda Morgan, who lost her mother and sister upon impact, was thrown out of her bed and onto the deck of the Stockholm. She did suffer a broken arm but she survived. Meanwhile, five crew members perished on board the Stockholm at the moment of impact. Those were the only deaths reported on that ship.
An article published at thoughtcatalogue.com addressed the issue of the blame for the collision
• Since the ship was close to arriving in the USA, the Dorea’s captain neglected to fill the empty fuel tanks on one side of the ship with seawater, which would have provided the balance to prevent the liner from tilting as severely as it did.
• Because the Doria was behind schedule, its captain maintained a high speed rather than the slower speed mandated when one’s ship is caught in the fog.
• In the final minutes before the collision, the Stockholm turned sharply to its right, while the Dorea turned to its left, effectively causing the crash. If both ships had remained on their courses without these sudden turns, the crash never would have occurred.
• Due to faulty radar equipment on the Stockholm, the captain mistakenly thought the Dorea was 14 miles away rather than four miles away.
After a one million dollar repair, the Stockholm returned to service. it was sold to East Germany in 1960 then sold to Italy. It was renamed, Athena. In December of 2008, Athena was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden A U.S. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft chased the pirates away.
The ship is now called “Astoria,” which is registered to Portugal and it remains in service. Starting in December of 2019 she is scheduled to spend next winter cruising the Sea of Cortez from the port of Puerto Peñasco in Mexico.
Slim
I see it is a quiet day on here.
Even with all the warm days and humidity since the last week of June Grand Rapids has only had 9 thunderstorms in the months of June and July and of course none so far this August. Looking ahead it looks to be very cool next weekend (you will not hear that from Mookie) and who know maybe the whole month of August will be cooler than average (that would be a good bet) The current temperature here is 85 with lots of sunshine.
Slim
The Astoria has survived well beyond the 30 year ‘average’ lifespan of many ships before they are scrapped. Nice write up Slim