8 minute read
Andrea Doria Memories
Andrea Doria, memories
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Irena Kosowska talks to Davide Bastiani, DAN Europe Researcher, owner of the Diving Center Top One Diving in Italy, https://www.toponediving.it/
IK: In 1956 there was a collision of two big ships, one of them was Andrea Doria, a beautiful liner and the most luxurious ship of that time. It was built according to the Italian school and made 101 cruises. On that day, the 25th of July 1956 Andrea Doria had a crash with the ship named Stockholm. How old were you then?
DB: I was not born yet. My mother was travelling with my grandfather, she was 12 years old. That was her first trip to the United States, with her dad, who was a tailor, and they were going to the US to buy a special kind of cotton.
IK: So you know the whole story from your mother.
DB: My mother was very lucky, because at the moment of the collision she was on the upper deck in the restaurant. They were not downstairs, in their cabin. It was on the right side of Andrea Doria, exactly in the place, where the ship was hit by Stockholm…
IK: Ohh…
DB: I remember that the number of my mother’s cabin was 54. Her co-passengers, two young sisters, who were travelling in cabin 52, were downstairs when the catastrophy happened. The Stockholm hit exactly their area. One of those young ladies survived only through climbing from Andrea Doria to Stockholm, which was in fact now in the place of her cabin. Unfortunately the other sister did not survive. I remember that story being told by my mother in such an emotional way, about two sisters, one dying in the cabin and one surviving by moving between ships at the moment of the crash…
IK: That day approximately 50 people died…
DB: I remember from newspapers that 46 people died immediately after the collision, but the number of victims was a bit higher. No one on Stockholm was hurt.
IK: Do you think your mother still thinks about that day? Does she talk about some moments like the one with the two sisters? Does she still bring the past back?
DB: For my mother that period was horrible, she doesn`t speak about that too often, and only to the closest family members. On the anniversary day, year by year, she would remember – “oh, on that day, twenty years ago, I was floating in the cold sea…”
IK: That’s horrifying.
DB: Yes, it is. Sometimes she was saying something about that day and she was pausing as if seeing some flashes in her mind, like being there back for a few seconds again. At the moment of the collision my mother was struck in her head and lost her consciousness for some time, so that for her it was even more confusing. I remember my mother saying that on the 26th of July 1956, eleven hours after the crash, Andrea Doria sank. She boarded Île de France, the French ship that was there to rescue passengers. But when she was in hospital, she was still very confused about what really happened.
IK: Your mother was a girl, was she travelling with only her father or with someone else?
DB: No, just with her father, my grandfather.
IK: How about him? Did he survive?
DB: Yes, he was rescued without any problems, only my mother was transferred to St. Vincent Hospital in New York after losing her consciousness because of the blow to the head. I do not know the details of my grandfather`s rescue, because he died before I was born.
IK: If that was so emotional for your mother, is she afraid now of travelling by ship or by plane?
DB: Of course, that remains very emotional after the accident, but she continues travelling both by ship and plane. She had her memories and it was visible that her mood would change before traveling. She cried sometimes for a few minutes dealing with memories. Even when she saw on TV, in Italy, when refugees from Africa were being transferred by boats, and they were close to the coast, that was very moving and she cried. She is very vulnerable, since the memories of being rescued in the same way remain in her mind.
IK: Davide, you are a diver. You are running your own diving center, you are also cooperating with DAN to make diving safer. Has the story of Andrea Doria had any influence on your diving career?
DB: No, the story till today was very personal and reserved for me and my family. It had no impact on my diving career.
IK: But you did a dive on the Andrea Doria wreck.
DB: Yes, the experience is emotional for me.
IK: I would like to ask you about that experience. How did you get the idea that you would like to dive there? That idea was connected with the accident, or not?
DB: Yes and no. When I was diving on that wreck, I had to clear my mind, because it is necessary to be concentrated during a dive, especially a deep dive – it is more or less 70 meters, with a heavy drift and strong currents, low visibility. The very first moment when I descended to the wreck, was very emotional, I cired a few tears, I remembered all my mother’s stories for a few seconds. But that was very personal and emotional, so I put it aside and had to separate my personal emotions from my diving activity. I had to clear my mind to be safe there. That personal emotion involved me for not more than 10 seconds, right after that I remained concentrated as usually during diving.
IK: So that emotion had no influence for example on gas consumption or any other diving parameters?
DB: No, I was focused on my mission, which was to do a safe dive, to visit the wreck, to see it and touch it.
IK: How does the wreck look like now? Is it in good condition?
DB: No. I did there two dives in 2006. The wreck’s condition is very poor. A part of it has totally collapsed.
IK: So you didn’t explore it?
DB: No. I heard a lot of stories about diving there, with or without penetration, with dpv or without it, but for me it was not important. For me the important point was the contact with the wreck. I just wanted to be there, to touch that ship. I was thinking that it will not be possible for me to do that again, so I wanted to feel that moment fully.
IK: Would you like to go there back again?
DB: Yes, but actually it is not possible for me.
IK: Why?
DB: Time, money and so on…
IK: How did you prepare yourself to go there for the first time?
DB: My uncle, who is a commercial diver, helped me. We had contacted divers in New York and booked the boat Wahoo. This is a special boat dedicated to taking divers to Andrea Doria.
IK: Is there any special permission for that?
DB: No, I just pay and go, very easy. Logistics is also very easy, you prepare two double tanks with the proper trimix and deco gases, such as 50% O2, 25 minutes of bottom time, you have a surface assistance, and a rope leading straight to the wreck. Planning the dive was very easy, as all those dives have the same requirements and are repeatable. I did not take any photos nor did I any activities, my mission, as I said, was very simple: to go to the wreck, touch it, experience it, and repeat if possible. To some people, like to my partner on that day, that ship is only a piece of iron. During the dive he was completely indifferent, cold as ice. For me it was totally the opposite.
IK: One more thing about the catastrophy itself… that catastrophy should’t have happened. There was some issue with radars, but Stockholm just hit Andrea Doria, and nothing happened to Stockholm…
DB: My mother remembered Andrea Doria’s sound, a specific warning sound made by ships. It was a very foggy day.
IK: So maybe ships did not see each other?
DB: I don’t know, but I’ve read in newspapers that it was really foggy and that Stockholm did not emit the fog-warning sound. Andrea Doria did, and my mother remembered that. She also remembered the sounds that were produced by the contact of the two ships, like iron twisting, breaking glass, lots of glass, and then noisy chaos when she fell down and lost her consciousness.
IK: Sounds like an earthquake…
DB: Yes, the same as during an earthquake. She also told me the story of a collapsing restaurant where only one table with a bottle of water was standing in the middle. It was so fascinating to us that she remembered such details, but that’s how our brains work. She also told me that she felt like time slowed down and everything around her was moving so slow, and then she saw all her life flash before her eyes. Probably that was because of the pain and stress. But while she was telling the story after the years she was calm, just sometimes paused speaking as if she was searching for something in her memory…
IK: ou are a diver, you already did that particular dive. Skipping the emotional part, would you recommend it to other technical divers? As you probably know, many divers died there. Now, as you have seen the wreck – is it worth making that dive?
DB: When I was there, in 2006, till that year 11 divers died on the wreck of Andrea Doria. I would say it is only for experienced technical divers. What is more, you have to pay for two double tanks with trimix, and it is much more expensive in the US than in Europe. You also have to consider strong currents – the ascent is only with the line, you have to hold it tight. What was also very unexpected is that on the first dive we saw two sharks.
IK: Sharks?
DB: Yes, but it was the only stressful situation for me then because it was unexpected. But the sharks just took a look at us from about 3 meters distance and swam away.
IK: 3 meters? What was the visibility?
DB: The visibility was about 6 meters on the wreck. There is green water, on the bottom totally black.
IK: When we were talking before the interview, you mentioned, that you have some documents like newspapers, tickets, letters…?
DB: Yes, all the documents are in my mother’s house. And the ticket..
IK: Oh, you still have the ticket?
DB: Yes, it is still possible to read the details, although it is very damaged, written with beautiful calligraphy! We also have the cabin key with the royal Italian flag – Marina Italiana – the hospital forms of my mother’s, and also the special editions of newspapers and some pictures…
Source: www.alertdiver.com
IK: You mentioned you have some letter…?
DB: Letter, yes, a letter written to my grandmother, very simple, that they are alive and everything is ok. My mother wrote it during her stay in New York’s hospital. But they were back home in Italy before the letter came. Still, it is beautiful because of the special post stamps with the Statue of Liberty. It is also very emotional for me, reading it I am thinking of the situation of a young lady who is on the ocean during the accident, and then she must be in a hospital in a foreign country, and I am very touched by that. I sometimes wonder what I would do in the same situation, being on that ship on that day… But I will never have the answer.
IK: Wow, that’s a fantastic story!
DB: For me it’s very emotional.
IK: Thank you very much for sharing that with us.
DB: I am also very happy to share that personal story for the first time with you.
