The Wreck of the Andrea Doria

Tom Kelly, a survivor of the Andrea Doria shipwreck, gave a presentation to the Lake Superior Elders on July 23, 2013.  The Andrea Doria was a representation of Italian national pride.  It was built with safety in mind. The wreck occurred on July 25, 1956 and was the result of one ship, the Stockholm, ramming into the Andrea Doria at the Starboard side which caused the boat to lean severely to starboard and left half of the lifeboats unusable. The efficiency of the ship’s design permitted it to stay afloat for 11 hours after it was struck.  The professional behavior of the crew, improvements in communications and the rapid response of other ships prevented a disaster of large proportions. Fifty-two people lost their lives as a result of this accident, 51 people died from the immediate impact and another person died from other causes as a result of the accident.  This incident remains the worst shipwreck disaster to occur in United States waters which surprisingly occurred only 45 miles offshore near the coast of Nantucket.  The event and its repercussions were heavily covered in the media and an investigation occurred to determine what caused the accident.

The Andrea Doria was 697 feet long and a gross register tonnage of 29,100.  It still amazes me that these massive structures can stay afloat.  The ship could reach a top speed of 26 knots.  The Andrea Doria was not the largest or the fastest vessel in the 1950s, the fastest and largest were the RMS Queen Elizabeth and the SS United States.  The famous Italian architect, Minoletti designed the ship for luxury.  Because it sailed in warmer waters, it was the first ship to be featured with three outdoor swimming pools for each class of passengers, first class, cabin class and tourist class.  The ship was capable of accommodating 1,241 passengers and 563 crew members.  The Andrea Doria was considered one of the most beautiful ocean liners of its time along with RMS Queen Elizabeth and the RMS Queen Mary. 

Because of Kelly’s details and the way he gave the presentation created an atmosphere of being there with him at the shipwreck. He explained his preparation for his rescue from getting dressed, grabbing his passport and waiting to be saved.  When he was rescued and arrived in New York they were surprised he had his passport. His passport picture was placed in one of the books that were written about this accident.  Kelly was returning to the states after attending training in Italy to become a priest.  When he reached land he was asked to give last rights to some of the survivors that were in serious physical condition.  He stated how his training provided him with preparation for handling crisis situations.  He told the audience how some of the people who were saved kept stating that they paid for first class and needed to be treated as such. 

There were several years of litigation to determine the fault. Both shipping lines contributed to a settlement for the victims.  Each line incurred it own damages caused by the accident. Both lines were insured by the same company.  An out of court settlement ended the disputes. The Swedish-American Line accrued $2 million for repairs to the Stockholm’s bow and lost business while it was being repaired.  The Italian Line accumulated $30 million in damages, the entire ship.  There were various reasons given concerning why the accident occurred:

1.       The Andrea Doria’s officers did not follow proper radar procedures.

2.      The Andrea Doria’s personnel did not follow proper “rules of the road.”

3.      Captain Calamai of the Andrea Doria was speeding through fog as was common for passenger lines.

4.      The Stockholm and Andrea Doria were experiencing different weather conditions.  Before the accident the Stockholm was not experiencing fog until it reached the area where the Andrea Doria was at.

5.      The Andrea Doria’s fuel tanks were half empty and not pumped with seawater ballast in order to stabilize the ship.  The ship was top heavy when it was struck.

6.      There was a missing watertight door between the bulkheads near the engine room, which  contributed to the Andrea Doria’s problems.

7.      The Stockholm’s navigating officer misread his radar thinking it was on a 15 mile setting when it happened to be set on a 5 mile setting.

As a result of this accident, there were several rule changes such as shipping lines were required to improve training on the use of radar equipment and approaching ships were required to make radio contact with one another.

Diving to recover artifacts from the Andrea Doria has resulted in additional loss of life.  Sixteen scuba divers have lost their lives.  Strong currents and heavy sediment can reduce visibility.  The depth is another cause.  With the wreck slowly collapsing, the top of the wreck is at 190 feet.  An invisible web of fishing lines can easily snag scuba gear. 

Several books have been written about the Andrea Doria:

Collision Course: The Story of the Collision Between the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm by Alvin Moscow

Saved: the Story of the Andrea Doria – The Greatest Rescue in History by William Hoffer

Desparate Hours:  The Epic Rescue of the Andrea Doria  by Richard Goldstein

Shadow Divers  by Robert Kurson

Alive on the Andrea Doria:  The Greatest Sea Rescue in History  by Pierette Domenica Simpson,  a survivor

Survivors went through their lives with a variety of experiences.  Kelly still remembers the crunching metal sounds.  Captain Calamai never accepted another command. He was saddened by the experience for the rest of his life.  Most of the officers returned to active duty on the sea.  Some of the survivors suffered mental health problems for years after the accident.  Others felt the experience helped them place more value on their lives, life was considered more precious.  Some of the survivors stay in touch through a newsletter and there have been reunions and memorial services. 

Klondike Gold Rush

Before the arrival of Europeans in the Yukon region, the tribal people residing in the northwest America traded copper nuggets.  Most of the tribes were aware of the gold in existence; but gold was not valued by them.  The Russians and the Hudson Bay Company had both explored the Yukon during the first half of the 19^th century, but ignored the rumors about gold.  They were in favor of fur trading, which offered more readily available profit.  They needed to rely on fur trading to survive.  After the 1850s American prospectors began to arrive in the Yukon area.  These prospectors made deals with the Native Tlingit and Tagish tribes which in turn succeeded in opening up the Chilkoot and White Pass trails between the years of 1870 and 1890.  The miners met the Han people, a semi-nomadic tribe of hunters and fishermen who resided along the Yukon and Klondike Rivers.  The Han did not appear to know about the existence of gold deposits. 

Ed Schieffelin discovered gold deposits along the Yukon River in 1883, and as a result an expedition up the Fortymile River in 1886 resulted in returning a vast amount of gold.  This discovery led to the creation of Fortymile City.  The same year gold was found near the Klondike River.  This discovery was not as profitable, only small amounts of gold was detected so it was not determined an official discovery.  By the late 1880s, more than a few hundred miners were working their way along the Yukon valley.  These miners were living in small mining camps and trading with the Han to ensure their survival.  On the border of Alaska, Circle City was established, a logging town in 1893 near the Yukon River.  In only three years Circle City grew to become what was referred to as the “Paris of Alaska” with a population of 1200 and saloons, opera houses, schools, and libraries. In 1896, a foreign correspondent from the Chicago Daily Record came to visit due to the notoriety of the community.  At the end of the year, Circle City became a ghost town when news arrived that substantial amounts of gold was found upstream at Klondike. 

On August 16, 1896, an American prospector named George Carmack, his Tagish wife Kate Carmack, her bother Skookum Jim and their nephew Dawson Charlie were travelling south of the Klondike River.  Because of a suggestion made by another prospector, Robert Henderson, the group of prospectors began looking for gold near the Bonanza Creek, at the time referred to as Rabbit Creek, one of the Klondike’s tributaries. There was some confusion of whom actually made the first claim, Carmack declared he did, however Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie asserted that Jim did.  Gold was in existence along the river in massive quantities.

Carmack staked four claims along the river, one as his normal claim, the second as a reward for having discovered the gold, and one each for Jim and Charlie.  Jim stated that Carmack’s extra claim was really his; but the extra claim had to be staked for Carmack because no one would believe a Native American could have made the discovery.  The claims were registered at the police post at the mouth of the Fortymile River and news spread rapidly from there to other mining camps in the Yukon River valley. By the end of August, all of Bonanza Creek had been claimed by miners. 

The Klondike Gold Rush, also known as the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the last Great Gold Rush, involved approximately 100,000 prospectors who decided to try their luck and travel to the Klondike region of the Yukon in the northwestern portion of Canada between 1896 to 1899.  Gold was discovered in this region on August 16, 1896.  When the news hit Seattle and San Francisco the following year, a mad dash to this area was triggered. It took a year for the news to travel to these cities due to the inclement weather in the Yukon area. The journey was extremely difficult and only approximately 40,000 arrived.  Only a few became wealthy, only 4,000 struck gold.  The gold rush ended in 1899 when gold was discovered in Nome, Alaska.  My interest in the Klondike Gold Rush was peaked when I learned that Mr. Bayliss of whom our local library was named after in Sault Ste. Marie, MI took part in this excursion during the late 1800s.

The gold rush brought over $1,139,000 to the northwestern American ports in July 1897 which is equivalent to $1 billion in 2010 in gold.  The gold rush created a public fever, many left their jobs to set off for the Klondike in search of gold.  The stampede was joined by traders, writers photographers, and others trying to make a profit.  The prospectors arrived by taking a route through the ports of Dyea and Skagway in Southeast Alaska.  They followed either the Chilkoot or the White Pass trails to the Yukon River and then they sailed down to the Klondike.  Boats and canoes were constructed when they reached the Yukon River.  Each Klondiker was required by the Canadian government to bring a year’s supply of food on their trip to prevent starvation, their equipment and other supplies weighed close to a ton, which for the most part had to be carried in stages by themselves. To tell you the truth, I don’t know how they did it.  Due to the mountainous terrain and cold climate, most prospectors did not arrive until the summer 1898. 

Mining was difficult to almost impossible, the permafrost made digging slow and tedious.  Many of the miners decided to buy and sell claims, creating investments and having others do the work. To accommodate the Klondikers, towns sprung up along the routes.  Dawson city was developed near the Yukon River.  It grew from a population of 500 in 1896 to 30,000 people by the summer 1898.  Because of the poorly planned development of this city and due to its remoteness, it proved to be unsanitary and the inhabitants of this city suffered from fires, high prices and epidemics.  Even though these hardships were in existence, many of the wealthiest prospectors lived a life filled with gambling and drinking heavily in the town’s saloons.   The Native Han people underwent severe hardships, they were moved to a reserve to make way for the prospectors and many of them died. 

By 1898, the newspapers which advertised heavily about the gold in the Klondike, lost interest.  The newly discovered gold in Nome marked the end of the gold rush.  The boom towns declined in population.  However, the gold rush continued to a smaller degree until 1903 when production peaked after heavier equipment was brought in. Since 1903, the Klondike has been mined on and off and an estimated 1,250,000 pounds of gold have been taken from the area.  Today many tourists travel to the region and this interest continues to fuel the economy.