SS Andrea Doria

The SS Andrea Doria was an ocean liner for the Italian Line (Società di navigazione Italia) homeported 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.

Aftermath

Litigation and determination of fault: 1956

There were several months of hearings in New York City in the aftermath of the collision. Prominent maritime attorneys represented both the ships' owners. Dozens of attorneys represented victims and families of victims. Officers of both ship lines had testified, including the officers in charge of each ship, with more scheduled to appear later when an out-of-court settlement was reached, and the hearings ended abruptly.

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Both shipping lines contributed to a settlement fund for the victims. Each line sustained its own damages. For the Swedish-American Line, damages were estimated at $2 million, half for repairs to Stockholm's bow, and half for lost business during repairs. The Italian Line sustained a loss of Andrea Doria's full value, estimated to be $30 million.

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In the end, heavy fog would be the main reason given as the cause of the accident. However, at the time, these other factors were cited by some observers.

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• Andrea Doria's officers had not followed proper radar procedures or used the plotting equipment available in the chartroom adjacent to the bridge of their ship to calculate the position and speed of the other (approaching) ship. Thus, they failed to realize Stockholm's size, speed, and course.
• Andrea Doria had not followed the proper "Rules of the Road" in which a ship should turn to right (to starboard) in case of a possible head-on crossing at sea. As the Stockholm turned right, Andrea Doria turned left (to port), closing the circle instead of opening it. Beyond a certain point, physics made it impossible to avoid a collision.
• Captain Calamai of Andrea Doria was deliberately speeding in heavy fog, an admittedly common practice on passenger liners. The navigation rules required speed to be reduced during periods of limited visibility to a stopping distance within half the distance of visibility. As a practical matter, this would have meant reducing the speed of the ship to virtually zero in the dense fog.
• The Stockholm and the Andrea Doria were experiencing different weather conditions immediately prior to the collision. The collision occurred in an area of the northern Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Massachusetts where heavy and intermittent fog is common. Although Andrea Doria had been engulfed in the fog for several hours, the Stockholm had only recently entered the bank and was still acclimating to atmospheric conditions. The officer in charge of the Stockholm incorrectly assumed that his inability to see the other vessel was due to conditions other than fog, such as the other ship being a very small fishing vessel or a blacked-out warship on maneuvers. He had no idea it was another passenger liner speeding through fog.
• Andrea Doria 's fuel tanks were allowed to remain empty rather than being ballasted with sea water, as specified by the ship's builders. This practice was a common operating economy. By allowing the fuel tanks to remain empty after the fuel was consumed, the ship rode higher in the water and required less effort, and therefore less fuel, to maintain speed. The lack of ballast likely contributed greatly to the ship's post-collision behavior, from the immediate, severe, and uncorrectable list following the collision sequence to the fact that it actually capsized before sinking.
• There was also perhaps a "missing" watertight door between bulkheads near the engine room, which was thought to have contributed to Andrea Doria 's problems.

Both lines had an incentive to limit the public discussion of Andrea Doria 's structural and stability problems. Stockholm's owners had another new ship, the Gripsholm, under construction at Ansaldo Shipyard{{ref|GreatOceanLiners2}} in Italy. Andrea Doria's designers and engineers had been scheduled to testify, but the hearings were abruptly concluded before their testimony could be heard due to the settlement agreement.

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Resulting reforms

The Andrea Doria-Stockholm collision led to several rule changes to avoid a recurrence. Shipping lines were required to improve training on the use of radar equipment. Also, approaching ships were required to make radio contact with one another.

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Later investigations and study

Unanswered questions about the tragedy, and questions of cause and blame, have intrigued observers and haunted survivors for almost 50 years. Captain Calamai never assumed another command, and died a broken man.

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Recent discoveries using newer undersea diving technology and computer animation have shed additional light on some aspects.

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• Exploration of Andrea Dorias impact area revealed that Stockholm's bow had ripped a much larger gash in the critical area of the large fuel tanks and watertight compartments of the Italian liner than had been thought in 1956. The question of the "missing" watertight door, although still unanswered, was probably moot: Andrea Doria was doomed immediately after the collision.
• Recent studies and computer simulations carried out by Captain Robert J. Meurn of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and based on the findings of John C. Carrothers suggest Stockholm Third Officer Carstens-Johannsen misinterpreted radar data and badly overestimated the distance between the two ships. The poor design of the radar settings, coupled with unlighted range settings and a darkened bridge, make this scenario likely. Some critics have suggested that a simple and available technology, a small light bulb on the radar set aboard the Stockholm, might have averted the entire tragedy.