No. 216 - Andrea Doria

I read the following sentence on page 218 of The Passage this morning:

Eva had been the name of Lila's grandmother, a fiery character who, according to family lore, had both sailed on the Andrea Doria and dated a nephew of Al Capone's.

I wondered what was so special about the Andrea Doria and initially thought the name sounded much like the fishing boat that was lost at sea after leaving Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1991, as depicted in the book, The Perfect Storm. But that didn't seem to fit the sentence, since all those passengers were never seen again. I also later found out that boat was called Andrea Gail.

My wife thought it sounded like something that George Costanza was yelling about on an episode of Seinfeld. Sure enough, in Episode #144 called "The Andrea Doria," George finds out he can't get a new apartment because the tenant association is going to give it to an Andrea Doria survivor.

I learned that SS Andrea Doria was an Italian ocean liner most famous for its sinking in 1956. The ship's home port was Genoa, Italy, which produced two famous sea captains: Christopher Columbus and Andrea Doria. Of all Italy's ships at the time, Andrea Doria was the largest, fastest and supposedly safest.

On July 25, 1956, while approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, on its way to New York City, Andrea Doria collided with the east-bound MS Stockholm in what became one of history's most infamous maritime disasters. The evacuated luxury liner capsized and sank eleven hours after the collision. 1,660 passengers and crew were rescued and survived, while 46 people died. 

Andrea Doria was the last major transatlantic passenger vessel to sink before aircraft became the preferred method of travel.