Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Kids' Corner
Over the years, I have been invited to speak to many audiences. Many of appearances were as a guest speaker in my children's classrooms. I was often the hit of Show and Tell.
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The Andrea Doria Rests on the Ocean Floor
The Magnitude of Impact
Alicia Disembarks from the Stockholm
How did your parents react when you disembarked from the Stockholm?
ReplyDeleteThey were shocked and thrilled to see me because the Stockholm was the last ship to arrive in New York harbor with survivors and over 36 hours had passed without then knowing if I were dead or alive. My older brother stayed home with our grandmother who lived with us and would not let her read the newspapers or watch the news on tv so she was not really aware that anything had happened.
ReplyDeleteMy father had set up an interview with the local radio station so we went immediatlely to a hotel where I ate and showered and changed clothes anddid tghe radio interview. Then we drove home to Syracuse, NY
How did the rescuers decide to use the Stockholm as a rescue ship if it was in the accident?
ReplyDeletePizza45
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteDid anyone get hurt or die in the shipwreck?
When and where did the Andrea Doria sink?
Were you in the water at anytime during the accident?
After the shipwreck, did/do you still go on boats?
Salt25
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteDid any of your friends die?
Were there any pets on board the ship?
How long did it take for the boat to sink?
How long was the rescue mission?
Are there any bodies in the ocean now?
Candy195
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteIf you were in the water, did you have to signal the boat?
What was it like to be shipwrecked?
Do you remember what the Andrea Doria looks like?
Blueberries85
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteIf you were in the water, how scary was it and did you think you were going to die? Do you have any artifacts from the shipwreck?
Fries105
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteHow deep did the boat sink?
Cabbage185
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteWhich ocean did you sink in?
Tuna15
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteDid you have a life vest? At what time of the day did the crash occur?
Cherry175
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteBefore the shipwreck, did you go on any boats?
Salmon75
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteHow wide was the Andrea Doria?
Cake145
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteWhich boat rescued your friend?
Fritter95
Asocia35,
ReplyDeleteAt what time did the boats collide? Why did they collide?
Meatball165
Fritter95
ReplyDeleteThe rescue ship for my friend and college classmate was the cargo ship, Cape Ann which sent eight lifeboats to the scene.
Tuna 15
ReplyDeleteThe collision took place at 11:10 pm on July 25 in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Nantucket We were about nine hours from New York Harbor and the Andrea Coria were expected to arrive there at 9:00 am on the morning of July 26.
Pizza 45
ReplyDeleteEven though the Stockholm was the other ship involved in the collision, it also was the nearest ship to the Andrea Doria.
When the Swedish captain determined that although badly damamged and also in need of aid, she still could take on some of the survivors from the Doria. She took on about 450 survivors, including me.
It very likely could have been a serious problem to resucue all from the Andrea Doria if the Stockholm could not help.
Dear Salt 25,
ReplyDeleteSixty or sixty-one people did die in the collision between the two ships.
Please look carefully and thoughtfully at the picture of the crushed bow of the Stockholm.
Four crewmen from the Swedish ship were asleep peacefully in their bunks on their first night out to sea. They were crushed to death immediately when the bow of their ship rammed into the side of the Andrea Doria.
On the Andrea Doria, several people were swept out to sea in their beds, while their family members could only watch their loved ones going out into the foggy night and dark sea.
One little girl from the Italian liner,ended up alive on the crushed bow of the Stockholm. She was taken off the bow in a basket lowered down onto the bow from a helicopter hovering above. The helicoptor was not able to land on the damaged ship.
Please read the ships' logs from all the ships involved including the rescue ships. They will tell the story of the little girl's rescue, along with all the rescue efforts. I am sending them to Mrs. Tracy today.
Other people were injured but I do not know how many. If I find out I will email you.
The collision took place in the evening on July 25, 1956. Andrea Doria sank the next morning, about ten hours later, off of Nantucket.
I never got into the water, only a lifeboat. Other people did end up in the ocean.
I still do enjoy boat rides and overnights on larger ships, although I am often a little afraid and nervous.
Dear Cabbage 185,
ReplyDeleteHere is a quotation from LIfe Magazine, August 6, 1956, teling about the death of the Andrea Doria and the depth of the Atlantic Ocean.
"The Doria's starboard rail dipped under and for a space she lay on her beam-ends. Then, with a sodden heave, she rolled over and her screws rose from the water........Along her flank her never-used portside lifeboats broke loose and huddled with other debris, life rings and deck chairs, ladders and other flotsam. Then a circle of foam with a hugh air bubble breaking in the center floated briefly on the water as, at 10:09 am the Doria went under, stern up, in 225 feet of water."
Dear Salmon 75,
ReplyDeleteYes, I did go on boat rides on Green Lake and Skaneateles Lake where Mrs. Tracy grew up.
I was always a little bit afraid of the water because I never learned how to swim.
On my way over to Paris, France to study at the Sorbonne University, we took a French liner, the Liberte, to travel to France and to school.
The Liberte was the sister ship of the Ile de France which was one of the rescue ships for the collision and which saved the biggest number of people, about 750 or more.
Dear Blueberries-
ReplyDeleteI never got into the water but did witness other people in the water.
In my lifeboat, we were still in fog so we could not see where we were going and who was going to save us. I don't remember seeing anyone from our lifeboat signalling anyone, but the crew members who were rowing our boat must have had some signal exchange with the Stockholm to let us know where to get out of the lifeboat and onto the Stockholm.
It was scary not knowing what was happening, where we were going, and if and how we were going to be saved. I had and still have a strong faith in God and did believe at the time of the accident that God was always with me.
Yes, I do remember what the beautiful Andrea Doria, the flagship of the Italian Line' looked like, partially from pictures and from a painting I have and also from my own memory.
Dear Cake 145-
ReplyDeleteThe bridge on the Andrea Doria was forty feet wide.
If I find more information about the entire wideth of the ship, I will email you.
Dear Candy 195-
ReplyDeleteNone of my friends died. I did know a man who died of a heart attack on the Stockholm after being rescued from the Andrea Doria. He fell asleep in his lounge chair on deck and never woke up again.
Probably a lot of pets did die because there must have been animals on board. There were no news stories about pets surviving.
It took the Andrea Doria eleven hours to sink.
The rescue mission still continued for nearly three more hours because there still were medical emergencies to take care of, the rescue ships needed permission to leave the scene of the accident, some ship needed to escort the Stockholm back to New York, the entire area of the accident needed to be deemed safe for other ships to travel.
Dear Fries 105-
ReplyDeleteI never got into the water but I did see other people in the water.
I certainly did wonder if I was going to die and I was afraid of the water because I did not know how to swim. But I always felt that God would take care of me and He was always with me no matter what happened.
I was also a little scared when I realized that I had to go down a thick, greasy marine cable rope and saw the man ahead of me slip off the greasy and fall into our lifeboat.
I do have a life preserver from the Andrea Doria. I did not take my own preserver with me when I ran out of my cabin, but later on deck and older man gave me his. When we boarded the Stockholm, we all turned our lifejackets onto a pile. When we arrived at New York Harbor, thirty-six hours later, we had to walk past a huge pile of life preservers and I stopped and pick out a greasy, dirty one to take home. I believe that there are only two or three lie preservers in exsistance and I have one.
Dear Cherry 175-
ReplyDeleteYes, I do have a life vest, dirty, greasy and
old. On the life vest it does not say Andrea Doria but it says "ITALIA' and GENOVA, the home port of the Italian Line and other words in Italian.
About six months after the accident when I was back at Marymount College, the mother of my roommate who was born in Italy gave me an ashtray from the Andrea Doria and the sister ship of the Andrea Doria which my roommate's mother had crossed on the Atlantic Ocean, a few years earlier.
The accident occurred on the evening of July 25, 1956 at approximately 11:10 pm. The ships' logs start at 11:20 pm. It must have taken ten minutes to understand something was terribly wrong.
Dear Fries 105-
ReplyDeleteI forgot to tell you that I also have an ashtray from the Andrea Doria and her sister ship. It was given to me later when I returned to Marymount College. My roommate was born in Italy and was in Paris with me for the school year but returned to the United States on another ship. Her mother had crossed the Atlantic earlier on her sister ship and had taken the ashtray as a souvenier.
People did not fly across the Atlantic Ocean very much at that time. Ship travel was more popular and considered safer.
Dear Meatballs 165-
ReplyDeleteThe two ships collided at 11:10 pm on the evening of July 25, 1995. The first ships logs started at 11:20 pm from the Andrea Doria and 11:22 pm from the Stockholm. I am sending Mrs. Tracy the ships' logs today. They tell their own story of the accident and the resuce operations.
The ships collided for several reasons and both ships were eventually found responsible for the accident.
-The Andrea Doria was traveling in thick fog and did not slow down her speed enough as required to continue safely. She did ring her fog warning bells to other ships every few mintues as required.
-The Stockholm was traveling in the northern corridor because it was a quicker route to her home port in Swedan. She should have been in the southern corridor. Consequently, both ships were in same path, heading towards each other.
-While there was radar available on each ship, radar was a new instrument and means of communication. No one stayed and plotted the radar every move, every minute or someome would have seen what was happening sooner. By the time each ship understood there was danger it was too late to turn the ships. (Since the accident, it became maritime law that some one must stay in the radar room just as traffic controllers do at airports. After the Titanic's terrible loss of lives, it became maritime law that there must be enough life boats for each passenger and each crew member on board. The Andrea Doria did have enough life boats to save everyone aboard her, but she listed so abruptly and so quickly that half of the lifeboats could not be used.)
-At the last minute, when it was apparent that the two ships would collide, Captain Calamai turned his ship the wrong way hoping to lessen the impact of the two ships. The Stockholm did not expect the Italian to turn that way. It was contrary to the rules of the sea.
-On the Stockholm, the third mate who was on duty at the time of the accident, did not stay by the radar often enough to understand the enormity of the impending disaster. He also did not notify his captain, Captain Nordenson, as soon as he realized there was a great problem.
He waited a short spell thinking he could take care of the problem himself.
Dears Pizza45,Salt25,Candy195,Bluberries85,Fries105,
ReplyDeleteCabbage185,Tuna15,Cherry175,Salmon75, Cake145, Fritter95,and Meatball 165--
Thank you for your interest and questions about the Andrea Doria and Stockholm's terrible collision fifty-two years ago.
Your intelligent and thoughtful questions reminded me again of a big event in my life and made me realze all over again for the millionth time how lucky I am to be alive.
The guestion about the pets being on the Andrea Doria was a new thought to me. There must have been pets aboard--how frightened they all must have been not knowing what happened, where their masters were and not be able to even try to save themselves.
If you have any other questions or comments, especially after you look over the ships' logs, please email me.
Alicia Sovik Socia
Dear Mrs. Socia,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you could answer this, but I'll ask anyway. How did people know that there was a crash? Was there a bump? Did the boat tip over? Could you give me all the details please? :)
Blueberries85
Dear Mrs. Socia,
ReplyDeleteHow did you know that the Andria Doria collided into the Stockholm?
Apples 135
Dear Mrs. Socia,
ReplyDeleteHow did you now that you had been in a crash?
How did they wake you up?
When you woke up was there water on the floor?
What floor were you on?
pizza 45
Dear Mrs.Socia,
ReplyDeleteWere you scared when the ship crashed? I bet that you were. I fthat was me then I would be soooo scared. I told my mom and she asked me if it was the titanic and I said "no mom it was the Andrea Doria". Then she said that must have been really scary. Was this in the news paper? If it was what year was it in? If you could answer those questions please write back to me at: Raspberries65 (also known as Taylor)!!!! :)
I remember the piano sliding down the entire floor of the salon in first class, which is the highest place on the ship. I was trying to go up to a higher and safer place on the Andrea Doria. There were ten levels on the ship and my cabin was on level nine. My cabin was right across from the boiler room and it was on the side of the ship where the Stockholm hit. The first class salon was probably on level two.
ReplyDeleteIt was very difficult trying to climb across the salon or sitting room floor because the ship was listing so badly. People had to hold on to whatever they could to crawl across the floor to the higher side. I held on to the stair railings. Other people were trying to go down to the lower level. If they did not hold on to something that did not move, they just slid right down across the floor to the lower side where all the loose furniture had fallen. I did hear several people cry out in pain because they slammed their bodies against the wall and broken furniture.
ReplyDelete