Greatest Sea Rescue in History
Incredibly, only 51 people died in the accident — five crew members of the Stockholm and 46 passengers of the Andrea Doria. Among them 43 died instantly when their cabins were obliterated.
In what is considered the greatest sea rescue of history, all the passengers who were alive after the collision were saved, as the Andrea Doria tilted helplessly and cold ocean water flooded into the gash at its side.
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More than 1,700 were saved by other ships racing to the scene. To many terrified Andrea Doria passengers, safety was the sight of the fully lighted liner Ile de France that raced through the fog at full speed, reaching the scene an hour after the collision.
"Calamai and his crew worked a heroic and amazing rescue operation," Eliseo told Discovery News. "You have to think of that particular situation — people were woken up in terror, the ship was listing so much that it became impossible to walk, the floor was slippery, and the ocean must have appeared dark and cold. It was also clear to everybody that the pronounced listing made it impossible to lower most of the lifeboats."
It was the heroism of crew members such as the electricians who worked until the last moment in flooded rooms filled with wires, that made the epic rescue possible.
Third Officer Giannini had the idea to use the nets designed to cover the pools at night as a way to get into the lifeboats.
"It worked fine, and it made it easier and quicker for the passengers to get to the lifeboats," Giannini told Discovery News.
Calamai, Giannini and the other 10 crew members remained on the Andrea Doria until the last moment.
"We had to lay down because of the tremendous listing of the ship," recalled Giannini. "Captain Calamai told us to go, that he would have followed us later. We understood he wanted to sink with his ship. We and other crew members in a lifeboat refused to leave without him. At that point, he resigned himself to follow us."
The Andrea Doria sank with all its lights on. Amazingly, the ship remained afloat 11 hours, as opposed to the Titanic, which only took two and a half hours to sink.
All that remained of the great ship was some flotsam in a dark whirlpool.
