| No ship has done more to shape the face of modern wreck diving than the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria. Generations of the sport's pioneers made their bones diving the wreck, and in the process, developed the techniques divers use today to safely explore other sunken vessels. As part of our special wreck diving issue, now available on newsstands and at Golden Tank dive centers, Scuba Diving magazine explores the past, present and future of "the Mount Everest of wreck diving." |
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Deep Trouble: Dive Pioneer Bob Hollis details his harrowing dives on the Doria as part of the first commercial salvage effort to recover valuables from the ship.
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. |
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Bob Hollis
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Making History: Evelyn Bartram Dudas, the first woman to dive the Andrea Doria, shares her stories of exploring the massive wreck, including the recovery of the wheelhouse compass.
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. |
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Diving the Doria Today: 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. |
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Doria Links: Learn more about the wreck with these resources. |
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