Word: doria
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Diving to the Andrea Doria...
...began an obsession that ended last week when a ship's rusty safe was consigned to the shark tank of the New York Aquarium. Twenty-five years ago, on July 26, 1956, only eleven hours after colliding with the Swedish liner Stockholm, the Andrea Doria, flagship of the Italian Line, sank some 250 ft. down to the continental shelf. Fifty lives were lost. The next day Department Store Heir Peter Gimbel, then 28, went chugging out to sea looking for the buoy that marked the Andrea Doria 's grave about 50 miles south of Nantucket. Gimbel dove through...
...Gimbel has remained an intrepid gentleman adventurer: swimming under Antarctic ice, exploring remote Andean ranges, filming the great white shark. In 1976 he and his wife Elga Andersen, a former German actress, produced a documentary on the Andrea Doria. Last July they set out to make another, backed by the latest in underwater technology...
Nerves frayed as physical exhaustion set in. Divers worked in a murky tangle of air and communication lines, hot water continuously pumping through their wet suits for warmth. Said Supervising Diver Steve Jennings: "This is the hardest-bad currents, high seas, a rotting ship. The Doria was a weird wreck, very unforgiving." After a week of clearing debris from the first-class foyer and purser's office, the team found two safes. The divers were able to free one, a Bank of Rome safe, with acetylene torches and hoist it on board. They also solved a question that...
...salvage, depending on the courts. He will have to pay import duties on everything except currency and antiques. "This was not a treasure hunt," insists Gimbel, who was welcomed at the dock by U.S. Customs agents. Will he go down to the Andrea Doria again? No, says he. "I think it is time to stop testing myself...