Andrea Doria - PDF document

Andrea DoriaÑLeonard J. MattesonUnited States Maritime Law AssociationN THE MORNING OF JULY26, 1956, CBSEvening News correspondent Douglas Edwardsreported what he witnessed from a plane dippingThere below, on glasslike water, water strewn with wreckage andAndrea Doria, listing at a 45-degree angle and takingwater by the minute . . . the ugly gash in her side covered by theAtlantic. . . . Her three swimming pools were empty of water,emptied the hard way, spilled into the ocean. . . . Afew minutespast ten oÕclock . . . the shipÕs list was at 50 degrees. Her funnelswere taking water . . . the boiling green foam increasing. . . . ThreeAndrea Doriasmooth AtlanticÑa terrible sight to see. ANavy commander hadThere was one thing to be thankful for: the loss of life was notnearly, not nearly as great as it might have been. At 10:09 it wasall over, the Andrea DoriaTitanic, there is tragic irony in theAndrea Doriaaccount. We all know too well whatcaused the demise of the former: the hull breached by the rippingdamage of a gigantic iceberg. But how and why did a newer ship,Built in Sestri, Italy, by the Ansaldo Shipyard, the Andrea Doriawas modern in every respect. For safety, it was equipped with all 247 O of the most recent navigational aids that were specified in the 1948two radar sets, instruments that became heavily relied upon in thea gross tonnage of 29,100. Its top speed of 26 knots was achievedby steam turbines developing 35,000 horsepower.In order to understand the sinking or capsizing of any vessel,one must take into account certain standard issues. Among themare ballasting, weather, speed, location, and the type and extent ofFirst, it must be noted that, technically, the Andrea DoriasinkÑit capsized. In responding to the issue of proper ballasting,Andrea Doriamet not only the SOLAS 48 requirement of aminimum metacentric height of 0.5 foot, but a higher require-foot. When it sank, its metacentric height was more than 3.3 feet.The ballasting plan and record, saved by the engine crew, wereamong the papers sent to the court of New York for the crewÕsinterrogationÑwhich, unfortunately, never took place. The ballasting record clearly confirms that the vessel still had1,907 tons of fuel oil (more than sufficient to complete the returnleg of its voyage); therefore, it didnÕt need to fuel in New York tobe properly ballasted and safe, as has been suggested elsewhere.Yes, the Õs fuel tanks were half empty at the time of the sink-ing, but it was built to return safely to Genova on the remainingfuel. This was demonstrated by the shipÕs previous 100 trips andCristoforo Colomboments entered in force in 1990, the shipbuilding industry did notconsider leaks above the watertight deck as a possibilityÑas inAndrea Doria. Therefore, the sudden flooding ofsome 500 tons of water into the ruptured tanks caused the ship tolist some 20 degreesto starboard during the first minute. Fortu-nately, its heavy cargo was fastened securely; otherwise, there 248Alive on the Andrea Doria been swifter. All of these facts have been verified by the latestcomputer technology. All experts agree: the Andrea Doriawas hit; the damage occurred in its most vulnerable area. More-over, the American Bureau of Shipping, which studied collisions,learned that previous ones of this type showed that the maximumpenetration was usually less than 15 percent of the beam of theship, whereas in the case of the percent. This difference is considerable. The excessive breach, inover the tops of the watertight bulkheads that extended up to ADeck. As the adjacent watertight compartments flooded, the listcontinued to increase, until the ship finally capsized, its fatesealed, nearly eleven hours later. Robert T. Young, a naval archi-tect, classified surveyor, and former president of the board of theAmerican Shipping Bureau, explains the flooding in detail:The actual point of impact occurred between two watertightabove the double-bottom of the ship, there was a battery of fueloil tanks known as deep tanks, which extended across the fullbreadth of the ship with a longitudinal oil tight and watertightbulkhead on the centerline of the ship. The etrated all the starboard deep tanks, thereby flooding them. Aneffort was made to counteract the list by pumping ballast waterinto the port tanks; unfortunately, it had the opposite effect,tanks was higher than that of the starboard ones, a fact whichown, separated from the main engine room by a watertight bulk-this generator space and short-circuited the generators andswitchboards, putting them all out of action. The emergencydiesel generator, which was located in its own compartment at a The Sinking of the Unsinkable249 sary power for the emergency lighting and bilge and ballastpumps; the emergency generator was still running when the lastAndrea Doriadenotes its ability to stay afloat when only two compartments areBut as a result of the ripping-type damage, which toreopen an arc of 90 degrees along the more than three compartments were compromised; in fact, manymore were flooded because of longitudinal and transverse damage 250Alive on the Andrea Doria Andrea Doriaaffected more than the two allowable compartments. (Courtesy ofFrancesco Scotto and the Round Table) , it was one-third.Therefore, when taking into accountthe ripping damage that caused continual and irregular flooding,it is clear to see why the list was on a continuum toward doom.Naval architect Francesco Scotto responds to anyone whoquestions whether there was a missing door going to the water-tight compartments or whether these doors were closed: ÒThewatertight doors were closed perfectly at the moment in which themeasures for navigating in fog were taken.ÓAnother factor that must be considered regarding the water-tight compartments is that the two ships were traveling at highslightly reduced speed of 21.8 knots. Additionally, the just under the bridge wing with its steel-reinforced,ice-breaking bow. Because the targetÑbeing half its sizeÑit had the effect of pushing the was speeding Òhard to portÓ asordered by its captain (in order to avoid the collision with theapproaching on its starboard side), this also caused it tolean onto its left side, further exposing the keel. Under these con-ditions, the keel became vulnerable to a blow from the dence of the breached keel during their expeditions to the was the first to notice the fracture in the keel on hisventilator shafts, which provide a passageway into the generatorroom; then he swam through the generator room, which led himto a large hole and directly into the ocean. So he theorized thatmore than three compartments had been damaged; therefore,whether there was a missing door between the watertight com-already doomed.Not only was the structural integrity of the starboard sidebreached, but because the ships were going so fast and the The Sinking of the Unsinkable251 252Alive on the Andrea Doria The Sinking of the Unsinkable253 lifeboats transport passengers away from the sinking Italian liner.and the Coast GuardÕsPrivate William H. ThomasAndrea DoriaAndrea Doria was so much lower,in the process of pushing the into that 20-degree list, it actually exposed the keel.in the Õ80s, I saw the physical proof:from the port side, I saw a large hole that extended through to thestarboard side; it was about five feet wide and even longer. Per-. Per-crack, but today this fissure has expanded throughout the hull tothe point where the bow is separating from the rest of the hull.Nautical scientists who have studied the sinking are amazed atsome of the circumstances after the collision: no fires broke out,there were no explosions in spite of the fact that fuel tanks weresmashed, and the emergency generators lit the disaster scene rightIt would be ridiculous to attribute only luck to these [aforemen-tioned] facts. . . . We must discuss the solid construction and,above all, note the care and management of the machinists thatprevented the generators, the furnaces, and the electric stationsfrom creating problems and harming people and propertyThe greatest testament to the worthiness of the Andrea Doriaa well-constructed vessel is the reputation of its sister ship, theCristoforo Colombo. It was also built by the Ansaldo Shipyard, withan identical design for safety, and it operated under the same stan-dards. After the gated the construction of the Commission of the House of Representatives and the U.S. CoastGuard. No one ever disputed the safety and stability of the sistership, which continued to sail across the Atlantic Ocean for many 254Alive on the Andrea Doria