S.S. Andrea Doria

The S.S. Andrea Doria was an ocean liner for the Italian Line Società di Navigazione Italia home ported in Genoa, Italy. She was named after the 16th-century Genoese admiral Andrea Doria. For a country attempting to rebuild its economy and reputation after World War II, 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. It was launched on June 16, 1951 and undertook its maiden voyage on January 14, 1953. On July 25, 1956, while Andrea Doria was approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, bound for New York City, the eastbound M.S. Stockholm of the Swedish American Line collided with it in one of history's most infamous maritime disasters. Struck in the side, the top-heavy Andrea Doria immediately started to list severely to starboard, which left half of its lifeboats unusable. The consequent shortage of lifeboats could have resulted in significant loss of life, but the efficiency of the ship's technical design allowed it to stay afloat for over 11 hours after the ramming. The good behavior of the crew, improvements in communications, and the rapid response of other ships averted a disaster similar in scale to that of Titanic in 1912. While 1,660 passengers and crew were rescued and survived, 46 people died with the ship as a consequence of the collision. The evacuated luxury liner capsized and sank the following morning. This accident remains the worst maritime disaster to occur in United States waters since the sinking of the S.S. Eastland in 1915.

• Length: 213.8 m (701 ft 5 in)
• Beam: 27.5 m (90 ft 3 in)
• Draft: 13.84 m (45 ft 4 in)
• Propulsion: Two steam turbine engines, Twin screw, 5,000 horsepower
• Speed: 23 knots (26-27 Mph)
• Capacity: 29,100 tons
• Occupancy 1,200 passengers and 500 crew

Pietro (Born: 1889) and Dominic Tresca (Born: 1916) were on this ship sailing from New York to Naples, Italy in June of 1955 for an estimated 6-month visit.