Another Breaking Story from the Past
Nov 30, 2019 18:17:46 GMT -5
Ronv69, Legend Lover, and 2 more like this
Post by toshtego on Nov 30, 2019 18:17:46 GMT -5
The last surviving officer commanding the luxury ocean liner Andria Doria, famed for its 1956 collision with the Swedish Liner, S.S. Stockholm, has passed. He was 92.
Yes, Second Officer Guido Badano was in his bunk when the two great steamships got together in dense fog about 45 miles south of Nantucket. Boy, when things go wrong!!! The Stockholm ripped and enormous gash in the starboard side of the Andria Doria. She began to list heavily taking on water. For 11 hours dots and dashes flew through the ether as 
signals were frantically sent. Liners and freighters responded from miles around with the S.S. Ile de France reversing course speeding to the rescue but not before 43 passengers were swept to their doom from the listing decks of the stricken vessel. Badano, along with the Captain and other officers of the Andria Doria, took to a lifeboat and watched as their beloved ship, a symbol of Italian post WW2 resurgence, slowly slipped beneath the waves. A USN Destroyer was dispatched to pick them up and deposit them in Brooklyn. Of course, it had to be Brooklyn.
signals were frantically sent. Liners and freighters responded from miles around with the S.S. Ile de France reversing course speeding to the rescue but not before 43 passengers were swept to their doom from the listing decks of the stricken vessel. Badano, along with the Captain and other officers of the Andria Doria, took to a lifeboat and watched as their beloved ship, a symbol of Italian post WW2 resurgence, slowly slipped beneath the waves. A USN Destroyer was dispatched to pick them up and deposit them in Brooklyn. Of course, it had to be Brooklyn. Following the rescue and recovery, Mr. Badano returned to Italy where he later became Captain of the Doria's companion ship, Cristoforo Colombo. Those voyages were well attended if uneventful. Mr. Badano was living in Alassio, a seaside town in northern Italy when he made his final signal.
Thought you would want to know.
