Italy’s Andrea Doria sank in 1956, but divers still explore its dangerous wreck

Rep ese tative
Image
of
the
A d ea
Do ia
li e
pa tially
subme ged
amid
fog
a d
ocea
cu e ts
(AI-ge e ated
image)

Seve ty
yea s
afte
the
A d ea
Do ia
sa k
i
the
No th
Atla tic,
dive s
a e
still
desce di g
to
the
dete io ati g
Italia
li e ,
explo i g
ewly
exposed
sectio s
a d
ecove i g
a tefacts
befo e
pa ts
of
the
w eck
disappea
fo
good.
Eightee
dive s
have
died
while
t yi g
to
explo e
it.
The
ship
lies
o
its
sta boa d
side
about
50
miles
south
of
Na tucket,
with
the
seabed
oughly
250
feet
below
the
su face,
well
beyo d
o mal
ec eatio al
divi g
depths.
Powe ful
cu e ts,
limited
visibility,
cold
wate
a d
lo g
decomp essio
stops
make
the
desce t
dema di g,
while
collapsi g
passages,
loose
metal
a d
heavy
silt
add
to
the
da ge
i side
the
ship
itself.
Decades
o
the
seafloo
have
al eady
eshaped
the
w eck,
with
whole
decks
collapsed
a d
the
vessel
ow
sta di g
about
30
feet
sho te
tha
it
o ce
did.

How
the
A d ea
Do ia
sa k
afte
collidi g
with
the
Stockholm
i
1956

The
A d ea
Do ia
left
Ge oa
o
July
17,
1956,
ca yi g
1,706
passe ge s
a d
c ew,
bou d
fo
New
Yo k
o
what
would
become
its
101st
a d
fi al
t a satla tic
c ossi g.
O
July
25,
ea i g
the
e d
of
that
voyage,
the
ship
a
i to
de se
fog
while
the
outbou d
li e
Stockholm
sailed
i
clea e
co ditio s
ea by,
a d
office s
o
both
vessels
eached
diffe e t
co clusio s
about
how
to
pass
each
othe
afte
t acki g
o e
a othe
by
ada .

At
11.05
pm,
the
A d ea
Do ia’s
captai
o de ed
a
fou -deg ee
tu
to
po t,
a d
two
mi utes
late
the
Stockholm’s
thi d
office
o de ed
a
oughly
22-deg ee
tu
to
sta boa d.
By
the
time
the
two
ships
spotted
each
othe ‘s
lights
at
11.10
pm,
less
tha
a
mile
sepa ated
them,
a d
eithe
ma oeuv e
could
p eve t
what
followed.
Less
tha
a
mi ute
late ,
the
Stockholm’s
ei fo ced
bow
st uck
the
A d ea
Do ia’s
sta boa d
side
at
18.5
k ots,
d ivi g
about
40
feet
i to
the
la ge
ship
a d
tea i g
ope
seve
of
its
11
decks
just
behi d
the
b idge.
The
collisio
killed
46
people
aboa d
the
A d ea
Do ia
a d
five
aboa d
the
Stockholm,
though
the
li e
stayed
afloat
fo
ea ly
11
hou s,
lo g
e ough
fo
ea by
ships
to
escue
the
emai i g
passe ge s
befo e
it
fi ally
sa k
the
ext
mo i g.

Why
dive s
call
it
the
Mou t
Eve est
of
w eck
divi g

Dive s
eached
the
w eck
almost
immediately,
with
two
me
desce di g
to
it
the
ve y
ext
day
usi g
wetsuits,
basic
equipme t
a d
a
u de wate
came a,
a d
expeditio s
have
co ti ued
eve
si ce.
The
site
ea ed
its
ick ame
amo g
dive s
because
of
both
the
difficulty
of
the
desce t
a d
the
da ge s
of
e te i g
the
w eck
itself,
a d
eight
dive s
died
the e
betwee
1992
a d
1999
alo e.
Risi g
about
80
feet
f om
the
seabed,
the
ship
exposes
dive s
to
oughly
six
to
eight
times
the
p essu e
fou d
at
the
su face,
a d
they
bu
th ough
thei
ai
supply
at
a
simila ly
i c eased
ate,
aisi g
the
isk
of
a cosis,
oxyge
toxicity
a d
decomp essio
sick ess.
I side
the
hull,
dive s
must
avigate
sideways
stai ways,
collapsi g
passages,
decayi g
metal
a d
da gli g
wi es,
a d
a y
silt
distu bed
alo g
the
way
ca
billow
i to
the
wate
a d
sha ply
cut
visibility
withi
seco ds.

How
mixed
gas
divi g
cha ged
what
was
possible
at
the
w eck

I
1996,
dive s
Steve
Gatto
a d
Tom
Packe
became
the
fi st
to
each
the
ship’s
e gi e
oom,
a d
while
filmi g
its
gauge
pa el,
Gatto
lost
t ack
of
his
exit
oute
a d
bega
expe ie ci g
a cosis
befo e
fi di g
his
way
back
out
usi g
o e
of
the
st obe
lights
the
pai
had
placed
alo g
thei
path.
Mixed
gas
divi g
late
allowed
dive s
to
eplace
some
of
the
it oge
i
thei
ta ks
with
helium,
educi g
a cosis
a d
maki g
deepe
dives
mo e
ma ageable,
though
the
tech ique
b ought
its
ow
complicatio s,
si ce
dive s
still
eeded
le gthy
decomp essio
stops
a d
had
to
ca y
the
co ect
gas
mixtu e
fo
each
depth
o
isk
a
fatal
mistake.
Gatto,
who
has
made
mo e
tha
250
dives
to
the
A d ea
Do ia
ove
the
yea s,
has
said
some
dive s
we e
substituti g
tech ology
fo
the
expe ie ce
eeded
to
dive
safely.

What
dive s
ecove ed
f om
the
w eck
i
2025

O
July
11,
2025,
dive
Ch is
Ogde
was
a ou d
230
feet
below
the
su face
i side
a
co fi ed
sectio
of
the
w eck
whe
he
spotted
the
ci cula
top
of
a
gy ocompass
epeate ,
a
five-foot-tall
b ass
avigatio
i st ume t
that
o ce
stood
o
the
ship’s
b idge
wi g.
With
o ly
fou
dives
left
o
the
expeditio
a d
ba ely
40
mi utes
o
the
bottom
each
time,
Ogde
a d
his
divi g
pa t e
Joe
Maz aa i
spe t
most
of
th ee
dives
clea i g
ets,
cables
a d
oughly
eight
feet
of
deb is
befo e
fi ally
f eei g
the
i st ume t
a d
lifti g
it
to
the
su face
usi g
a
i flatable
bag
ated
fo
500
pou ds.
The
gy ocompass
eached
the
su face
la gely
i tact,
though
its
face
was
missi g,
a d
weeks
late
filmmake
Al
Giddi gs
came
fo wa d
sayi g
he
had
ecove ed
that
same
piece
decades
ea lie
du i g
a
1968
expeditio
a d
still
had
it
i
his
home.

Why
salvage
f om
the
w eck
emai s
a
co tested
questio

Atla tic
W eck
Salvage,
whose
o goi g
ecove y
wo k
at
the
site
is
docume ted
o
its
ow
eco d
of
the
A d ea
Do ia’s
histo y
a d
divi g
co ditio s,
has
made
a ual
t ips
to
the
w eck
si ce
2010
a d
esto es
what
it
ecove s
fo
public
display.
Removi g
a tefacts
f om
histo ic
shipw ecks
co ti ues
to
divide
opi io ,
with
some
a gui g
that
objects
should
emai
i
place
o
be
ecove ed
o ly
by
t ai ed
a chaeologists,
while
dive s
who
wo k
the
A d ea
Do ia
cou te
that
its
apid
dete io atio
mea s
items
left
behi d
isk
bei g
c ushed
o
bu ied
fo
good
as
mo e
of
the
st uctu e
collapses.
The
w eck
sits
withi
a
st etch
of
ocea
that
the
Natio al
Ocea ic
a d
Atmosphe ic
Admi ist atio ‘s
Stellwage
Ba k
Natio al
Ma i e
Sa ctua y
ecog ises
as
pa t
of
the
egio ‘s
p otected
ma itime
he itage,
u de li i g
how
sig ifica t
these
sites
emai
eve
as
they
co ti ue
to
cha ge.
Seve
decades
afte
it
we t
dow ,
the
A d ea
Do ia
keeps
exposi g
ew
sectio s
of
itself
to
the
dive s
willi g
to
each
it,
eve
as
mo e
of
the
ship
settles
pe ma e tly
i to
the
seabed.

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