60th Anniversary of the "Andrea Doria' sinking

[CGTNORMANDIE]

18 hours ago, norboy76 said:I'm trying to do research, but not finding much information on this postcard, so going to keep searching to find out why it was printed

The public was hungry for any pictures they could get of the AD.  There were a lot of pictures of the wounded AD being sold.  Your postcard does not surprise me.  Back in the 1950’s the news wasn’t like it is today.  The first news films appeared the following morning when planes flew out to the wreck.  The big news was the Ile de France landing in NY with over 700 survivors.  The news stations broadcast that live.  We were glued to the TV all night and all the next day.  There were some sad stories of pax losing their lives.  The most amazing story was Linda Morgan who was sleeping in her bunk on the AD and ended up on the Stockholm during the collision.  The last survivor to leave the AD was a construction worker who had injured his back and been assigned to a bed in the AD infirmary.  He had been forgotten and was sleeping in a drug induced stupor.  When he woke up the ship was almost under the waves.  Nobody had remembered to get him out of the infirmary.  He crawled up to a point where he saw daylight and painfully made his way out to the rail and into the water.  He was spotted and picked up.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

The public was hungry for any pictures they could get of the AD.  There were a lot of pictures of the wounded AD being sold.  Your postcard does not surprise me.  Back in the 1950’s the news wasn’t like it is today.  The first news films appeared the following morning when planes flew out to the wreck.  The big news was the Ile de France landing in NY with over 700 survivors.  The news stations broadcast that live.  We were glued to the TV all night and all the next day.  There were some sad stories of pax losing their lives.  The most amazing story was Linda Morgan who was sleeping in her bunk on the AD and ended up on the Stockholm during the collision.  The last survivor to leave the AD was a construction worker who had injured his back and been assigned to a bed in the AD infirmary.  He had been forgotten and was sleeping in a drug induced stupor.  When he woke up the ship was almost under the waves.  Nobody had remembered to get him out of the infirmary.  He crawled up to a point where he saw daylight and painfully made his way out to the rail and into the water.  He was spotted and picked up.

 

Great stories, thanks.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

He crawled up to a point where he saw daylight and painfully made his way out to the rail and into the water.  He was spotted and picked up.

 

I recall that he didn't get into the ocean, but there was a lifeboat from one of the other ships that was able to pick him up.  Doesn't really matter.  The man was lucky to be saved.  

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

 The most amazing story was Linda Morgan who was sleeping in her bunk on the AD and ended up on the Stockholm during the collision.

 

And, then there was the woman who somehow had gotten "scooped up" by the collision and transferred to the Stockholm who did not survive and when the Stockholm's crew tried to retrieve her, they failed and she slipped into the sea.  

 

The stories of the relatives of those who were aboard Andrea Doria and survived about what they experienced and what they tried to do to reach and save their relatives are heart rendering.  

 

3 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

The public was hungry for any pictures they could get of the AD.

 

The sinking of the Andrea Doria with lots of photographs and reporting at that time was a feature of Life Magazine in their next issue.  And, I do remember watching "Douglas Edwards and the News" on CBS the day that it happened and in the next few days afterwards.  

[norboy76]

I do have the postcards too for the *SS Morro Castle* that were given to me by the son of someone who had been been at the Pier at Asbury Park when she beached herself after the fire. I have 1 postcard of the Morro Castle in happier days and 3 that were made in the aftermath of the disaster that the city I believe had gotten made, as thousands flocked to the beach day after day to see the liner.

[norboy76]

3 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

The public was hungry for any pictures they could get of the AD.  There were a lot of pictures of the wounded AD being sold.  Your postcard does not surprise me.  Back in the 1950’s the news wasn’t like it is today.  The first news films appeared the following morning when planes flew out to the wreck.  The big news was the Ile de France landing in NY with over 700 survivors.  The news stations broadcast that live.  We were glued to the TV all night and all the next day.  There were some sad stories of pax losing their lives.  The most amazing story was Linda Morgan who was sleeping in her bunk on the AD and ended up on the Stockholm during the collision.  The last survivor to leave the AD was a construction worker who had injured his back and been assigned to a bed in the AD infirmary.  He had been forgotten and was sleeping in a drug induced stupor.  When he woke up the ship was almost under the waves.  Nobody had remembered to get him out of the infirmary.  He crawled up to a point where he saw daylight and painfully made his way out to the rail and into the water.  He was spotted and picked up.

I have a couple of items from the Ile De France, I have original felt souvenir Pennants of that liner and an *Ile de France Cheese Label* with a picture of the liner on the label and a couple of postcards too and a photo of a cabin from 1946 on the Ile De France when she carried *war brides*  if you'd like to see them?

[CGTNORMANDIE]

1 hour ago, norboy76 said:

I have a couple of items from the Ile De France, I have original felt souvenir Pennants of that liner and an *Ile de France Cheese Label* with a picture of the liner on the label and a couple of postcards too and a photo of a cabin from 1946 on the Ile De France when she carried *war brides*  if you'd like to see them?

Ile de France cheese is still produced today.  There are two versions of Ile de France memorabilia...before World War II and after WW II.  I had a number of menus that went when I donated my collection.  You can still catch a glimpse of her fabulous interiors in the movie...”The Last Voyage”...circa 1958.  

[norboy76]

41 minutes ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Ile de France cheese is still produced today.  There are two versions of Ile de France memorabilia...before World War II and after WW II.  I had a number of menus that went when I donated my collection.  You can still catch a glimpse of her fabulous interiors in the movie...”The Last Voyage”...circa 1958.  

I have that movie. here are photos of the older cheese label I have it's paper and the felt pennant and war brides photo.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Great pics NB!  The pennant you have is very rare.  It shows the Ile de France with three smoke stacks...pre WW II.  The Ile de France was renovated after the war and had one its stacks removed.  You will notice the cheese label...two stacks.

Edited March 15, 2021 by CGTNORMANDIE

[marco]

I think today (July 18) is the date that the AD left Italy for it's ill fated voyage across

the Atlantic in 1956. Geeezzzz.....65 years ago!

[CGTNORMANDIE]

2 hours ago, marco said:

I think today (July 18) is the date that the AD left Italy for it's ill fated voyage across

the Atlantic in 1956. Geeezzzz.....65 years ago!

Correct…time sure does fly.  I was a 7 year old glued to a TV set watching the tragedy.  

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Correct…time sure does fly.  I was a 7 year old glued to a TV set watching the tragedy.  

 

5 years older than you, but I was watching as well.  Remember Life Magazine's coverage of the tragedy?  If I recall correctly, there happened to be one of their photographers on the Ile de France that provided poignant pictures of some of the events that he witnessed.  

[marco]

And this year will be be the 65th anniversary!

[rkacruiser]

7 minutes ago, marco said:

And this year will be be the 65th anniversary!

 

Yet, it seems like only yesterday in some ways.  The images are as vivid in my memory this afternoon as what I was seeing in 1956.  

[rkacruiser]

July 25, 2021, at 11:10 P. M., will be the 65th Anniversary of this tragedy.  So sad.  So tragic.  And, could have been avoided.  

[CGTNORMANDIE]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

July 25, 2021, at 11:10 P. M., will be the 65th Anniversary of this tragedy.  So sad.  So tragic.  And, could have been avoided.  

Hard to believe 65 years have passed.  Yes it was a tragedy to be avoided.  The loss of life was tragic.  One of the the saddest stories was Captain Calamai who spent the rest of his life in depression.   

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

One of the the saddest stories was Captain Calamai who spent the rest of his life in depression.

 

"I once loved the sea.  Now, I hate it."  I have read that quote by the Captain in more than one book about the tragedy.  

[CGTNORMANDIE]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

"I once loved the sea.  Now, I hate it."  I have read that quote by the Captain in more than one book about the tragedy.  

Very true and very sad.  Captain Calamai ended up wondering the streets in a daze.

[rkacruiser]

11 minutes ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Very true and very sad.  Captain Calamai ended up wondering the streets in a daze.

😢     

[nelblu]

Just saw this thread.  My mom who emigrated from Italy some 7 months after us, sailed on the Andrea Doria  westbound from Italy and if not mistaken was on 2 sails before the tragedy.  My dad and 3 sons sailed on the USS Constitution.

[rkacruiser]

20 hours ago, nelblu said:

Just saw this thread.  My mom who emigrated from Italy some 7 months after us, sailed on the Andrea Doria  westbound from Italy and if not mistaken was on 2 sails before the tragedy.  My dad and 3 sons sailed on the USS Constitution.

 

Do you have any memorabilia that your Mom might have kept from her crossing on the Andrea Doria?  What Class of cabin did she book?  Do you have any memories of anything that she might have told you about her passage to New York?  

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Do you have any memorabilia that your Mom might have kept from her crossing on the Andrea Doria?  What Class of cabin did she book?  Do you have any memories of anything that she might have told you about her passage to New York?  

 

On 8/15/2021 at 6:46 PM, nelblu said:

  My mom who emigrated from Italy some 7 months after us, sailed on the Andrea Doria

 

I am going to try to repost my message to you.  It did not appear when I first tried to do so.  (CC seemed to be having some hick-cups this afternoon.)  

[rkacruiser]

Sadly, this evening marks the 66th anniversary of the Andrea Doria and Stockholm tragedy.  May the souls who were lost on those two ships continue to rest in peace.  Their lives were not lost in vain.  Lessons were learned as a result of the accident.  Those of us who sail the seven seas have benefited from what was learned from that tragedy.  

[CGTNORMANDIE]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

Sadly, this evening marks the 66th anniversary of the Andrea Doria and Stockholm tragedy.  May the souls who were lost on those two ships continue to rest in peace.  Their lives were not lost in vain.  Lessons were learned as a result of the accident.  Those of us who sail the seven seas have benefited from what was learned from that tragedy.  

Amen…

[marco]

I was thinking about that on that day.  Four days later, we got on the QM2 in Southampton for our crossing to NY.  Nice....but not like taking the "Sunny Southern Route" in days gone bye on the Italian Line.