THE RESCUE OF ADMIRAL DORIA The statue of Admiral Doria, standing watch over the First Class lounge.

During the construction of the Andrea Doria, the Italia line commissioned a bronze statue of Admiral Doria to grace the ship that bore his name.  Cast with a flowing cape and long sword, he was placed at the focal point of the First Class lounge, in front of the dramatic 1,600 foot mural painted by Salvatore Fiume.  While Captain Calamai was rescued from the sinking liner, Admiral Doria went down with the ship.  He remained frozen in place amongst the deteriorating lounge until 1964, when salvage divers from the Top Cat visited the wreck site.

The Doria salvage vessel was originally the 125-long patrol boat USCGC Marion (WSC-145).  Built by the American Brown Boveri Electric Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, at a cost of just over $63,000, she was commissioned into the U.S. Coast Guard in April 1927.  After conducting oceanographic research, serving in World War II, and acting as a patrol and tender later in her career, she was decommissioned and sold in 1963.  She was bought by businessman Robert F. Solomon and renamed the Top Cat.

Captained by Dan Turner, the Top Cat was directed to proceed to the wreck of the Doria and salvage, amongst all the potential valuable artwork and cargo, the statue of Admiral Doria.  Crew of the Top Cat included First Mate Pee Wee Rose, his brother Pete Rose, George Merchant, and divers John Grich, Paul Heckert, and Dennis Morse.  The salvage crew would ultimately recover the 750-pound statue after eight grueling days of dangerous work.

After smashing through the Promenade deck and First Class lounge windows directly above where the statue was determined to be located, they dropped into the wreck to find Admiral Doria resting at a depth of 210 feet.  After securing and stabilizing the statue with rigging, the divers worked with common hacksaws to free the statue from the large base at the Admiral's ankles.  After many days of sawing, Admiral Doria broke free and was raised to the surface via a large liftbag.

 
(Center image courtesy of David Swift)

The statue of Admiral Doria graced the decks of the Top Cat for a while, before residing in a Pompano Beach hotel for several years.  Admiral Doria now resides in the Florida front yard of Dan Turner, former Top Cat captain.  So that the famous Italian admiral would not stand awkwardly, the salvors fashioned a pair of boots for the statue, which can be seen in the above right image.

John Moyer led an effort to recover the base of Admiral Doria's statue in 1996.  Both he and Gary Gentile worked to successfully raise the bronze base.  It is hoped one day that the statue will once again stand as it did in the First Class lounge of the liner Andrea Doria.

Left: the base of the statue breaks the surface. Center: John Moyer with the recovered base of the Admiral Doria statue.  Right: the feet of Admiral Doria as they appear today.

(All images courtesy of John Moyer, unless otherwise noted)