Scuba Geek

Scuba Diving the Andrea Doria ‘exhilarating’ July 27, 2006

Posted by Andy Carroll in : WreckDiving , trackback

The Andrea Doria is said to be the Everest of diving. The Italian luxury liner, which sank off the coast of Nantucket 50 years ago yesterday, lies at a depth of 230 feet, in the cold, dark, and unpredictable New England water. Metrowestdailynews.com has published an interesting report interviewing Joseph Augusto, who enjoys diving and penetrating the wreck;

“It was awesome to go down and see the outline as you descend, look at your depth gauge and see the ship come into view,” said Augusto, who grew up in Shrewsbury and owns Augusto Sprinkler Co. in Worcester with customers in the MetroWest area.

“The ship was enormous,” said the 48-year-old diver recently. “We were fortunate to dive into the bow, which recently had kind of collapsed and is becoming separated from the ship. So there is a new opening to the ship because of the crack. We were able to get into this crack where nobody had been before. It was exciting.”

Augusto also found the dive somewhat sad when he saw the demise of the ship.

“It’s disintegrating,” he said. “On the upper structure all the floors have collapsed onto the sand and created this debris field. Eventually it will be a pile of rubble.”

For Augusto the most exciting part of the dive was touching the letters about 2 1/2-feet in height, which spelled out Andrea Doria. “Not to mention being inside this huge wreck looking for artifacts,” he said.

Comments»

1. Willy Volk - July 31, 2006

I think Augusto should be scolded for removing artifacts from the ship. He does not have the legal rights to salvage the ship, and while his finds may be deemed minor, it’s a slippery slope from minor to major.

2. Andy Carroll - August 1, 2006

Hi Willy

I agree, and did think this as I read the article, but was unsure of the laws regarding salvage in the US.

3. Martha McNulty - February 11, 2007