1956 Andrea Doria and Ile de France

In June 1956, we sailed on the French Line's beautiful ship, Ile de France for our second trip Normandy.  I loved all ships, but I loved that one most of all.  

SS Ile de France leaving New York 1956

We had sailed on the Liberte in 1952 to Le Havre and in 1953 back to New York.  

SS Liberte previously SS Europa

On July 25, 1956, the Italian Line ship, Andrea Doris, was stuck by the Stockholm not far off the coast of Nantucket, about 100 miles from New York.  The Andrea Doria capsized and sank 11 hours later.

 

The Stockholm sustained severe damage but was able to return to New York.

Many people were rescued by the Ile de France, which was not far away and responded to the distress calls.  

Andrea Doria and Ile de France

However, 51 people died:  43 on the Andrea Doria in the collision and another 3 who died later, and 5 crew members on the Stockholm. 

Andrea Doria at dawn, July 26, 1956

The Andrea Doria stayed afloat for 11 hours and finally sank at 10:00 a.m. July 26, 1956.

My dad and I were obsessed with this tragedy.  We  bought every newspaper we could find.  It was all over the French TV news, of course.  It was the first time that there was actual video of something like this.  The cameras kept rolling as the Andrea Doria slipped below the waves.  Of course, this was before the internet and with what few facts we had, we tried to recreate what might have happened.  We drew diagrams.  We took each ship's perspective and fought it out.  My mother gave up trying to clear up all our documentation off our dining room table and just pushed it all aside so we could eat dinner.  We read this magazine over and over until it fell apart.

The sinking of the Andrea Doria always struck a chord with me.  I love ships and this accident had a personal connection because of the Ile de France.  There were a few celebrities on board, like actress Ruth Roman, who was just finishing a trip to Europe with her 3-year-old son; and Cary Grant's wife Betsy Drake, who lost $250,000 worth of jewelry which was in the safe.

Also, there were some incredible stories, like the girl who was asleep in her bed on the Andrea Doria and woke up on the reinforced, icebreaker prow of the Stockholm.  I hated the Stockholm because she didn't have the elegance and beauty of the Andrea Doria.  For years I followed the story, all the way to the conclusion of the lawsuits.

Not many people have accessed the wreck. She was originally under about 180 feet of frigid ocean, but now has sunk to about 240 feet. Apparently she is disintegrating and collapsing upon herself, sinking into the bottom of the ocean floor.   

Side scan sonar of the Andrea Doria on the ocean floor.

The day after the ship sank, Life Magazine hired some professional divers to photograph the wreck.  In the ensuing years, professional divers have retrieved a great many artifacts, like china and silver, etc., as well as the stern bell and one of the helms.   

One of the lifeboats at 145 feet on July 27, 1956.

Cutting an entry hole in the foyer doors in 1973

The Andrea Doria's aft bell in 1985

The Andrea Doria's aft helm in 1987

I hadn't thought about the Andrea Doria for a few years when in 2015 I was in our break room at the hospital, looking through books on the shelf, one of those round-robin things where you borrow books and either bring them back or replace them.  I was casually looking through the hard cover ones when I noticed one called "Saved".  I thought it might be religious, but I pulled it out to take a look, I saw it was written by a survivor of the Andrea Doria.  I took it home, but I still haven't read it.  I know I will get very emotional, especially when the Ile de France is mentioned.  

Many books have been written about the Andrea Doria, one called "Desperate Hours" that I also haven't read.  This is an except:

De Beaudean (captain of the Ile) stopped the Ile 400 years away, her bulk serving as a windbreak to keep the open water between the ships calm.  Then the captain issued an order that stirred the spirits of hundreds who had been stranded for 2-1/2 hours, watching helplessly as their beautiful ship tilted and tilted, closer and closer to the end.  It was an order that produced an image to be marked indelibly on the consciousness of all who glimpsed it for the rest of their lives.  "Light up our name, the funnels, the decks.  Light up everything quickly".  Switches clicked and the block letters ILE DE FRANCE aligned between the two red and black funnels blazed through a North Atlantic night that only moments earlier had shed an impenetrable and deadly fog. 

I have read many accounts of what it was like to suddenly see that name appear in lights in the darkness, a symbol of hope.  

There have been a great many documentaries and TV shows about this accident.  Every time I watch one, it seems new all over again. It's almost as though I was there.

This is interesting
Andrea Doria at fault?

So is this.
Survivors Remember Andrea Doria

Good description of the Andrea Doria
Andrea Doria

The ultimate Andrea Doria' website
AndreaDoria.org

Who was at fault?  There were many contributing factors including the Andrea Doria's design, errors in judgement, etc., and there was a great deal of criticism of the crew.  However, over the years, the Stockholm has not been held blameless.  There was also a mutual lawsuit.

Lawsuit Settled

By the fall of 1958 jet travel, old age and economics finally caught up with the Ile de France. She had served on the Atlantic run for thirty-one years. The French Line quietly sold her to a Japanese scrapping company on February 16,1959. In 1960, before she was sent to the breakers she was rented out for $4,000 a day as a floating movie prop for the disaster film "The Last Voyage" as the SS Claridon. Along with being partially sunk in the process, her interiors were destroyed with explosives and her forward funnel pulled over to crash down on her bridge. After the filming was finished, she was re-floated and sent to the breakers in Osaka. It was a very sad, undignified ending to such a proud, beautiful ocean liner.

1956 Kim Novak, My Swimming Instructor

When we sailed on the Ile de France from New York to Le Havre in April 1956, Kim Novak was on board.  She was on her way to the Cannes Film Festival and was still in the beginning of her career.  Just 23 years old at the time, she was starring in the movie Picnic, and was still uncertain of Hollywood and her place in it.   

Several people on the ship recognized her, including my dad.  When he found out she swam every day, as my sister and I did, he would accompany us, something he had not ever done before.

One day, I was floundering around in the pool because I couldn't swim.  She came over to me and asked if I wanted her to teach me.  I said yes please.  She was really nice and soft spoken.  She talked to my dad several times, too, which left him speechless.  She tried to show me how to swim every day.  Unfortunately, I sank like a rock despite her efforts. 

My dad always loved telling everyone that even movie star Kim Novak couldn't teach me to swim.

She came to the place where we children stayed when our parents were busy  She had a photographer following her everywhere, and he took several pictures with my sister and me, along with some of the other children.  

We later learned that some of the pictures might be in Marie Claire magazine.  My mother scoured the newsstands looking for it for weeks.  Unfortunately, we weren't in any of the pictures.

Marie Claire, July 1956

1952 Normandy Version 1.0

We moved to Notre Dame de Gravenchon in early 1952 when I was about 4-1/2 years old.  My memories are pretty vague.  For probably one of the only times in my life, I don’t remember us having a dog.  I know I would not have forgotten if we had.  

Dot was our house

 On the other hand, we were only there around 2 years, maybe less.  My dad was working for the engineering company at the Port Jerome oil refinery.  At the time it was one of the biggest in Europe.  It was the first time my mother had lived out of the country, and I think she loved it.

The refinery at Port Jerome

We left Normandy in June 1953.  We traveled on the SS Liberte, the flagship of la Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (i.e., the French Line).  We had come from New York on the Ile de France, her sister ship.   I don’t remember that trip though.

When we got back to the US, we stayed with my aunt Audrey and uncle Abbey until we left for Colombia.