Sea Technology

SEP 2016

The industry's recognized authority for design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community

Issue link: http://sea-technology.epubxp.com/i/726897

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 25 of 76

www.sea-technology.com September 2016 / st 25 N early 60 years after the sinking of the Andrea Doria, a team of deep-sea explorers has brought cutting-edge technology to explore what is known as the Mt. Everest of diving. The Andrea Doria was an icon of Italian national pride. Launched on June 16, 1951, it was described as the fastest and safest ship in the fleet. Named after a 16th century Italian general, it was equipped with a dou- ble hull and carried 16 lifeboats. The capacity of the ship was 1,200 pas- sengers with an additional 500 crew. On July 17, 1956 the Andrea Doria set sail from its homeport in Genoa, Italy, and set course west- bound across the Atlantic Ocean for the United States with 1,706 people on board. On July 25, the Swedish vessel MS Stockholm departed New York Harbor eastbound for its home- port in Gothenburg, Sweden. Both vessels were unknowingly on a collision course in the heav- ily traveled shipping corridor. The Andrea Doria had been traveling in the heavy Atlantic fog for hours when Capt. Piero Calamai ordered the watertight doors closed, the fog- warning whistle initiated, and the ship speed slowed while continuing a westward course. The ships were traveling through an area where the cold Labrador current meets with the warm Gulf Stream and causes heavy fog conditions, with visibility that can be re- duced to nearly zero. It was under these conditions at 11:10 p.m. on July 25, 1956 that the two ships collided nearly 50 mi. off the shores of Nantucket, Massachusetts. With a combined speed of 40 kt., both ships desperately tried to out run the collision. Their last-minute measures were to no avail, and the ships collided at an almost 90° angle. The Stockholm's ice- breaking bow ripped into the starboard side of the Andrea Doria, penetrating nearly 40 ft. The Andrea Doria immedi- ately began to take on water. There were over 50 casualties, 46 of those aboard the Andrea Doria. New Sonar Survey Through the years, the Andrea Doria wreckage has been hailed as the Mt. Everest of scuba diving due to the dan- gerous conditions, including lines, nets and strong currents. There have been 16 divers killed on the wreck over the years. This legendary shipwreck has been explored by div- ers for decades, with the first dive occurring within hours of the sinking. These dives resulted in limited views of the wreck due to the short bottom time available to divers (ap- proximately 20 min. per dive) and limited visibility. Since divers can only spend a few minutes at depths of 250 ft., and because local water turbidity limits visibility to a few dozen feet, it is nearly impossible for divers to capture images of the full scope of this 697-ft.-long shipwreck. And, as the ship decays, the familiar landmarks that divers once used to navigate around the vessel are changing or disappearing. As a result, there have been no images that fully illustrate the scope of the wreck. Now, 60 years after sinking, the shipwreck has been ex- plored via sonar for the first time ever, using Cyclops 1, a Survey of Legendary Andrea Doria Wreck Exploration of the Mt. Everest of Scuba Diving Using Manned Sub, Sonar By Rhonda Moniz PHINS INS and BV5000 sonar were integrated on board the Cyclops.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Sea Technology - SEP 2016
loading...
Sea Technology
Welcome!
If you're not a subscriber, please click here for a free subscription.