Desperate Hours: The Epic Story of the Sinking and Rescue of the Andrea Doria

A stupendous feat of reportage. -Ron Powers, cowriter of Flags of Our Fathers Praise for Desperate Hours ""Goldstein's book is packed with detail. . . . This description of the Doria's sinking is especially moving."" -The New York Times ""A stupendous feat of reportage. Goldstein has virtually put us into lifeboats and sent us hurtling into the North Atlantic on the night of July 25, 1956."" -Ron Powers, cowriter, Flags of Our Fathers, and author of Dangerous Water and Tom and Huck Don't Live Here Anymore On an extraordinary summer's night in 1956, in a fog off Nantucket, the world-renowned ocean liner Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish liner Stockholm and, eleven hours later, tragically sank. But in that brief time the Doria became, after the Titanic, the most storied vessel of the century, as nearly 1,700 people were saved in an unforgettable rescue punctuated by countless acts of heroism amid confusion, terror, and even cowardice. In the tradition of Walter Lord's A Night To Remember, Desperate Hours re-creates the ill-fated voyage, from the passengers' parting waves at Genoa, to their last evening highball in the Doria's lavish lounge, to the unbelievable realization that catastrophe was imminent. Richard Goldstein draws from dozens of interviews, court documents, memoirs, and reports that relate never-before-told stories. He also presents technical findings that shed light on the blame for the disaster. The result is a definitive history of a fateful day, a legendary liner, and a deadly shipwreck now considered by scuba divers to be the Mount Everest of the deep.

Using interviews, survivor psychiatric reports, and memoirs, among other sources, Goldstein, an editor and writer for the New York Times since 1980, tells the story of the Andrea Doria and the rescue of 1700 passengers and crew. This book recreates her last voyage in 1956 and presents new insights into the reasons for the crash that caused her to sink.

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Library Journal

On July 25, 1956, the modern Swedish liner Stockholm collided with the equally modern Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria. The sea was foggy but calm, and both vessels had radar and experienced bridge crews. Eleven hours later, the Doria was lying on the bottom of the Atlantic, having lost 46 of its 1700 passengers; five lives were lost on the Stockholm. An editor and writer for the New York Times and author of Mine Eyes Have Seen, Goldstein focuses on the stories of the people, with just enough attention to the technical issues and the various legal battles to round out the account. Following the story from ship to ship, deck to deck, he clearly dissects the rescue of the passengers and crew. As often in large disasters, some committed acts of heroism, some cowardice; others just muddled through. The causes of the accident have never been fully adjudicated. The collision may have been the result of a concatenation of minor mistakes in judgment, but, as Goldstein demonstrates, the rescue was the result of a number of organizations, ships, and people who cooperated smoothly under extreme pressure. Recommended for most public libraries. Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

047138934X Desperate Hours 2 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 PART I THE VOYAGE 14 1 “Brace Yourself” 16 2 “A Floating Art Gallery” 19 3 “Take the Doria, You’ll Never Forget It” 27 4 “A Picture of Scandinavian Efficiency” 36 5 “The Times Square of the Atlantic” 40 6 “Each Shall Alter Her Course to Starboard” 46 PART II THE COLLISION 56 7 “Why Doesn't He Whistle?” 58 8 “I Think We Hit an Iceberg” 63 9 “Don’t Worry, There’s Nothing Wrong” 73 10 “Need Immediate Assistance” 85 PART III THE RESCUE 96 11 “This Is No Drill” 98 12 “How Many Lifeboats?” 105 13 “We Are Bending Too Much” 113 14 “Let’s Pray to St. Ann” 118 15 “We Won’t Leave You” 131 16 “Lady, You’re Lucky to Be Alive" 136 17 “Light Up Everything, Quickly” 142 18 “You Have to Have Courage” 151 19 “Get Your Cameras” 158 20 “Bulletin ... Bulletin ... Bulletin” 165 21 “You May Go, I’m Staying” 173 22 “Seaworthiness Nil” 178 23 “That Thing’s Going Down in Five Minutes” 185 24 “It Is Incomprehensible” 190 25 “How Good God Is to Me” 195 26 “Oh, What a Climax” 200 27 “It’s My Baby” 206 28 “I Lost My Love for Italians” 211 29 “This Is a Jumbled Story” 223 PART IV THE QUESTIONS 228 30 “The Passengers Were Highly Excitable” 230 31 “It Could Have Been a Patch of Fog” 235 32 “The Stability of the Ship Was Low” 247 33 “I Could Have Changed Course” 251 PART V THE MEMORIES 260 34 “Why Did I Get Spared?” 262 35 “The Poor Man Was Destroyed” 275 PART VI THE SHIPWRECK 282 36 “It’s Got the Mystique” 284 Appendix 292 Sources 294 Index 298 On an extraordinary summer's night in 1956, in a fog off Nantucket, the world-renowned ocean liner Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish liner Stockholm and, eleven hours later, tragically sank. But in that brief time the Doria became, after the Titanic, the most storied vessel of the century, as nearly 1,700 people were saved in an unforgettable rescue punctuated by countless acts of heroism amid confusion, terror, and even cowardice. In the tradition of Walter Lord's A Night To Remember, Desperate Hours re-creates the ill-fated voyage, from the passengers' parting waves at Genoa, to their last evening highball in the Doria's lavish lounge, to the unbelievable realization that catastrophe was imminent. Richard Goldstein draws from dozens of interviews, court documents, memoirs, and reports that relate never-before-told stories. He also presents technical findings that shed light on the blame for the disaster. The result is a definitive history of a fateful day, a legendary liner, and a deadly shipwreck now considered by scuba divers to be the Mount Everest of the deep. - Publisher On a summer's night in 1956, in a fog off Nantucket, the world-renowned ocean liner Andrea Doria collided with another ship, the Stockholm. Eleven hours later it sank, but in that brief time the Doria became, after the Titanic, the most storied vessel of the century, as 1,700 people were saved in an unforgettable rescue punctuated by countless acts of heroism amid confusion, terror, even cowardice. Drawing on dozens of interviews that relate stories never before told, utilizing court documents, memoirs and reports by psychiatrists who examine survivors, and presenting technical findings shedd.