Andrea Doria:
Floating Italian Art Gallery

The author recounts the highlights the 200 dives he made on this most famous of shipwrecks, covering in detail everything from planning to execution, from sightings of unusual marine life to adverse weather conditions, from a tour along the immense hull to exploration of the vast interior, including the First Class Dining Room and Gift Shop, with rare underwater photos of china, glassware, jewelry, and the ship's bell.

After an overview of the 700-foot-long liner, and orientation of the various decks and the condition of the wreck, a step by step guided tour takes you inside, along encrusted corridors, over piles of debris, through inner doorways and stairwells, and into the dining room, where tables still stand on vertical decks, and where china lies partially hidden under years of accumulated mud. An exquisite collection of plates, bowls, cups and saucers, reveals the unique design of Richard Ginori gold leaf china, and the artistry of Italian painters depicting Oriental scenes. A cabinet is opened to yield a mixed pile of assorted stemware,

unbroken: cocktail glasses, wine goblets, brandy snifters, tumblers, and shot glasses--all etched with "Italia" and the crown logo.

The Gift Shop uncovers treasures that have been hidden by some thirty years of silt and debris. From a ledge at a depth of 220 feet the author recovered hundreds of pieces of hand-made jewelry, including paired earrings, pendants, broaches, medallions, cameos, rings, bracelets, and charms. In addition were crafted items such as dishes and ashtrays, inlaid picture frames, bronze and porcelain statuettes, even a candelabra in the form of stylized sea dragons. Even more interesting is a collection of souvenir spoons whose bowls depict a painting of the ship and the name “Andrea Doria”. In addition to underwater pictures showing some of the jewelry protruding from the mud, you will see slides of many of the pieces as they undergo the long process of cleaning and display.

You will also see the author’s favorite items: perfectly preserved ceramic panels which were specially commissioned for the Andrea Doria, and which were created by the famous Italian artist, Romano Rui. These panels represent the best in Italian renaissance art. Included in this segment are pictures of the 700-pound ceramic panels created by Guido Gambone, recovered by a team of divers of whom the author was a member.

To wind up the program, the author will chronicle the adventure of the recovery of the ship’s bell. An overview of the trip will be highlighted with underwater photos of the bell when first discovered hanging from its davit at 210 feet. The story of its eventual ascent to the surface is a milestone in the retrieval of artifacts recovered on conventional scuba.

This fascinating penetration into history, to the time of luxury liners and the era of transatlantic crossings, is the perfect evening entertainment, and the ultimate denouement to any film festival, symposium, or underwater conference. It took more than three dozen expeditions to the wreck site to accumulate the photographs for this special presentation. It’s a show you won't want to miss.

Northern Shipwreck Marine Life

Artificial reef ecology is demonstrated from the world of the small, using macrophotography, to the life cycles of the large, including whales, sharks, sunfish, and a variety of game fish. The waters of New Jersey northward, and the many wrecks that about there, offer more marine life than most divers know about. Lobsters, that most delectable of wreck inhabitants, are covered in detail.

Shipwrecks of Bermuda

As a tropical island surrounded by reefs and shipwrecks, this is a holiday paradise for divers, snorkelers, and vacationers alike. Shallow water is combined with warmth and clarity, while deluxe accommodations are combined with British cuisine. It’s as much fun topside as it is underwater. Because ships were wrecked by piling up on the reefs, every wreck dive is a reef dive as well. See wrecks that went down as long ago as 1848 (the 38-gun French frigate L’Herminie) to as recently as 1943 (the wooden schooner Constellation that will still sailing cargo during the war). Most of the wrecks lie at depths less than 30 feet, where the sun is bright and the water warm and lucid.

Two Freighters

This program takes a singular view at one aspect of maritime history: the shipment of war supplies during WW2. The American Liberty ship John Morgan, sunk off Virginia Beach, and the Russian freighter Kolkhosnik, sunk in the approaches to Halifax Harbor, offer a unique peek into this maddened time. Cargoes of tanks, trucks, jeeps, and airplanes like jumbled with arms and munitions bound for the front lines in Europe.

Empress of Ireland

One of the most terrible tragedies in maritime affairs occurred in the St. Lawrence Seaway, off the province of Quebec. After a collision with the tanker Storstad, the Canadian Pacific Railway passenger liner Empress of Ireland sank in fourteen minutes, with the loss of more than 1,000 lives. Today the wreck lies five miles offshore 130 feet deep (140 feet at high tide), where the summer water temperature rarely rises above 35 degrees. Ice diving without the ice! The 500-foot-long liner came to rest some 60 degrees to starboard. The wreck is entered through hatches on the port side and through the skylights and collapsing superstructure. Protruding from the silt are wooden beams, stairwells, furniture, and occasional human remains, all preserved in the cold, often turbid water. Here is a fascinating wreck to see: an adventure in history as well as in exploration.

From the Mountains to the Sea

This is an “eye-opener” program, intended to introduce divers to more than the world of diving. In addition to a selection of wrecks from New England to Florida, the program climbs the heights of three mountains in that gorgeous state of Washington. From the snow-covered summit of Mt. Rainier you will see, and then visit, the results of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens: a moonlike landscape created by a tremendous mud slide, and an entire forest wiped clean by the wrath of explosive gases. Then, you will hike through a tropical rain forest until you reach the snow fields and heavily crevassed glaciers of Mt. Olympus. This is a trek that brings adventure to all.