The Salt Lake Tribune Friday Morning, July 27, 1956 Rescue at Sea, a Great Saga After Disaster The proud Italian liner Andrea Doria lies at the bottom of the Atlantic, ripped open by a collision only three years after she made her first triumphant voyage from Genoa. The other vessel involved in the disaster, the Swedish liner Stockholm, is limping toward port badly damaged. The facts are grim, but not as grim as they might have been. More than 1,600 passengers and crewmen were saved and the loss of life was slight, considering the nature of the accident. When the titanic went down 44 years ago 1,517 persons perished. Yet the fact remains that this is a great maritime tragedy. For a ship is almost a living thing, and the Andrea Doria was one of the most beautiful and luxurious liners ever built. She was as modern as modern could be, and everything possible had been done to make her safe. The loss of the Titanic dispelled the idea that there was such a thing as an “unsinkable” ship. The forces of nature and the whims of chance make that impossible. Even so, the shock of a sea disaster brings the question of how it could happen in an age when science has solved so many of man’s problems. Fog has been one of the great menances of the sea, but wasn’t radar supposed to have eliminated the danger of collision in fog? There is another, brighter side to the present story, however. That is the rescue work. Fortunately, the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm collided off Nantucket, Massachusetts - an area which sailors call “the Times Square of the Atlantic” because so many steamship lanes converge there. The heavy maritime traffic may have set up the accident, but it also made possible the efficient rescue operations. It was only a matter of minutes, not hours, after the first distress calls before help was on hand for the stricken liners. And the rescue work, described as the greatest in history, was all the more remarkable since the Andrea Doria, which was listing badly, was unable to launch her lifeboats. Passengers and crew had to scramble down rope ladders and cargo nets. This may have been easy for the seamen, but not for landlubber passengers who, at the moment of collision, were celebrating their “last night out” at the end of a happy voyage to New York. The full story of the disaster has still to be told. Hearing and inquiries lie ahead. It may be weeks before blame can be placed or a complete examination developed. Yet this much is now certain: The ship captains and crewmen who took part in the rescue acted in the best, great tradition of the sea. They deserve all honor and all thanks. And we heartily agree with the message from the rescue ship Cape Ann which said, “Very proud of conduct of officers and crew.”