Why Maria Doria?

Why Maria Doria? No real ship had or has this name. But in the history of the noble italian family Doria Pamphilj we can find Giuseppe Maria Doria (1751-1816), a cardinale of the Roman Church who was Secretary of State during the papacy of Pius VI. A famous member of the Genoa branch of the Doria family was Andrea Doria (1466-1560), who, known as the "Liberator of the Fatherland" for having freed Genoa from the yoke of the foreigner, was Admiral of the Fleet of Emperor Charles V. Actually there was an unlucky ship whose name was "Andrea Doria".

AndreaDoria.gif

The "Andrea Doria" was build in the first 50's by the shipyard Cantieri Ansaldo in Genoa, Italy. It started the regular service Genoa - New York in 1953. Long 212.50 m, its gross tonnage was 30,000 t, and its load displacement was 29,500 t; tha max cruise speed was 25.3 knots, but at the full power trial the "Andrea Doria" got 25.44 knots (with 58,900 HP/axis). The picture is one of the classical photos of the "Andrea Doria", taken on 1953, from my private library.

Today (2000) the "Andrea Doria" is on the sea bottom. On 25 July 1956 in a heavy fog, 200 miles from New York, at 11:22 p.m., the reinforced ice-breaking bow of the Swedish-American liner Stockholm tore into the starboard side of "Andrea Doria". Eleven hours later, on 26 July 1956, the "Andrea Doria" was 75 m under the sea, on the mud of the Nantucket reef; 46 passengers out of 1706 died in the sinking.

At members.aol.com/bry1976/a_doria/ you can get more info on this beautiful ship. The site home.earthlink.net/~cboems/doria.htm has many shocking pictures of the disaster.

Everybody who, like me, was child in 1956, should remember the history of "Andrea Doria". Lara is too young, but I like to think - even if I'm wrong - that every time "Wreck of Maria Doria" is loaded somewhere in the world, it's in memory of the "Andrea Doria" and of its 46 passengers.



Last modified September 29, 2000 / Back to TombRaider II Secrets' menu