Medford mail tribune., August 03, 1958, Image 34

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Fnitilly Wcr)cl. Autiutt 3, 19SS
Richard Meyers, chief salvage engineer, shows how he hopes to lift the luxury ship
Andrea Doria from its grave 240 feet beneath the Atlantic, an unparalleled attend
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A daring undersea adventure, led by a
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wo days after the Andrea Doria,
pride of the Italian passenger
fleet, went down in a collision
with the Stockholm in July, 1956,
Armando Conti dispatched a telegram
to his native Italy. In it he offered to
raise the ship from its grave, 50 miles
off Nantucket, Mass.
During the two years which have
since gone by, a number of marine
engineers have called this feat a vir
tual impossibility, or a project so com
plex and' costly as to be impractical.
Nevertheless, today finds the indomi
table Conti preparing to bring the
Doria to the surface, an accomplish
ment which certainly would rank
among the greatest and most thrilling
sea salvage efforts of all time.
To this challenging job, Conti
brings: some experience in ship sal
vage, money, and an almost unlimi
ted amount of determination.
The effort may fail. There are tides
and sudden squalls to reckon with.
Certainly the divers will be daring
death every time they descend the
240 feet to the vessel's resting place.
And even if the attempt succeeds,
it might not prove financially worth
the trouble.
On the other hand, lifting the liner
from the bottom of the Atlantic may
make millions, become one of the big
gest news stories of the year, and shed
new light on the cause of the tragedy.
K I -,
Here's how Meyers and Conti plan
their daring gamble with several
experts betting on King Neptune.
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