North America
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In the early 1970s Don Rodocker and Chris DeLucchi formed a new company, Saturation Systems Inc. Drawing on their extensive training and experience as U.S. Navy saturation divers (Rodocker was selected to make the first 850 foot saturation dive; DeLucchi established an open seas saturation depth record of 945 feet) one of their first projects was a commercial salvage expedition on the Andrea Doria. The objective was to cut a hole in the wreck to recover the purser's safe. To do that, the company built a portable saturation habitat named Mother that could be lowered to the side of the wreck. The divers in the habitat would breathe a mixture of 92 percent helium and 8 percent oxygen, allowing them to live and work for days and then decompress before surfacing. Bob Hollis, founder and CEO of Oceanic Worldwide, was one of the divers who worked on the expedition ¿ Ed.
Evelyn Bartram Dudas was newly certified in 1966 when she was invited to speak to at local Lions Club luncheon about the novel sport of scuba diving. During her talk she vowed to become the first woman to dive the Andrea Doria. The following summer, she made good on the promise at the young age of 22. Here she recalls the wonder of seeing the wreck for the first time, and how her future husband John Dudas recovered the wheelhouse compass¿a prized artifact that is on display at her dive store, Dudas' Diving Duds, in West Chester, Pa.¿Ed.
Though the wreck is in a rapid state of decay, it still attracts divers who want to prove their skills. See what it takes to join the roster of successful Andrea Doria divers.
Learn more about the wreck with these resources.
No ship has done more to shape the face of modern wreck diving than the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria.
There's a quirky story behind every dive site in this larger-than-life island chain.
Florida's southeast coast is lined with shipwrecks and retired oil rigs¿and Miami Vice-worthy stories behind their sinkings.
While the rest of SoCal sits in rush-hour gridlock, savvy divers know to exit in Orange County for first-rate beach diving.
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