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Summary: Diving and Dieing on the Doria
Review:
She was once the pride of an entire nation. She was a post WW2 Transatlantic Liner with the most beautiful lines that only Italy can produce. Launched in 1951 and completed in 1952, the Andrea Doria went into service in early 1953. She displaced 29,083 tons and measured 656·5 feet x 90·2 feet with a draught of 45·4 feet. There were 10 decks, 11 watertight compartments and accommodation for 1,241 passengers and 575 crew. She was powered by 2 turbine engines capable of generating 50,000 hp and fitted with 2 propellers both of which weighed 16 tons. She was completely fireproof and every last detail was one of supreme luxury. As the flagship of the entire Italian fleet, with her went the hopes and aspirations of her country as it emerged from the turmoil and confusion of those dark years of WW2.
On the evening of 25 July 1956 the Doria (as she will always be affectionately known) was approaching New York just as the Swedish Liner Stockholm was heading in the opposite direction. After a series of errors by the officer of the watch on board the Stockholm, it was almost midnight when the Andrea Doria was rammed by that ship which sliced deep into her starboard side. It was a mortal blow and, in a manner reminiscent of the loss of the Titanic, the point of impact could not have been in a worse place. As the Stockholm backed away a large deep gash was revealed through which the Atlantic Sea was already pouring. The Doria took on an immediate 30 degree list to starboard - a list which would slowly increase until she was finally lost. That inexorable process took over 11 hours and the Andrea Doria sank at 10:09 am 26 July 1956.
Today, the Andrea Doria will feature heavily on any scuba diver's list of top ten shipwrecks of the world. Fortunately for the ship, she rests at a depth of 235 feet (99M). I say "Fortunately" because that depth restricts the number of divers who have the necessary deep diving skills to visit such a wreck. Consequently, much of her collectable brass and other fittings will remain uncollected - simply because there isn't the time at that depth for divers to get to work. Unfortunately for many scuba divers who do insists on visiting this immense and very deep shipwreck, however, they appear intent on looting her contents and in this way this shipwreck continues to claim far too many lives. Some of those who have been lost to this wreck (not all of whom are mentioned in this book) were amongst the most qualified and experienced of scuba divers.
Deep Descent is a story of diving and looting this wreck and of some of those who lost their lives. It is not a story for the faint-hearted diver. It is, however, a cautionary tale for all scuba divers - from all over the world, whether they have any intention of diving this wreck or not. Whilst it is an excellent read, one cannot easily condone the underlying gung-ho attitudes of those involved.
NM
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Summary: Too Much Pressure Got You Down?
Review: "Deep Descent" begs comparison to Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air". On the surface (heh), it's about a dangerous but unnecessary pastime. "Because it's there" would probably be a good motto for both the climbers and the divers.McMurray's book really seems to have more in common with Sebastian Junger's "The Perfect Storm", however, so unlike "Thin Air", the people involved do not become heroes, villains, and victims. "Deep Descent" is a vivid description of diving the famous 1956 wreck of the luxury liner Andrea Doria. Like climbing Everest, diving the Doria can be a fatal adventure. In addition to describing the history of the liner and dissecting the crash that sank her, McMurray takes an in-depth (heh) look at the fatalities from diving the wreck. He spends a lot of time detailing the personalities involved in the two main boats diving the wreck, and covers the feud that has divided the two boats for years. One of the boats has a very bad streak, with five fatalities in two short seasons on the Doria. This is where the "Into Thin Air" comparision really comes into play. McMurray takes a very evenhanded approach, and his conclusion seems to be that the divers knew the dangers when they started out, and that the buck more or less stops there. He reprints the complete liability waivers for each boat as appendixes, just to drive home the point. (They are pretty specific about the hazards.) Even so, in most of the fatalities there is an element of mystery. There are usually no witnesses, at best someone sees a diver swimming off in the wrong direction, never to return. When a body is recovered, it inevitably suffers post-mortem decompression damage that frustrates diagnosis. And the on-shore medical examiners involved don't have the expertise or inclination to really determine the cause of the diving fatalities dropped on their doorsteps. As a diver, McMurray's book kind of makes me shake my head. While the feat of diving the Doria is impressive, particularly on compressed air in a plain old wetsuit as McMurray does on an early foray, the allure of cold deep dives with unpredictable currents is just lacking for me. The possibility of collecting a little bit of somewhat fancy china would not make it worthwhile for me. McMurray more or lesses disses warm water divers on a couple of occassions, quoting remarks to the effect "you've seen one pretty fish, you've seen them all". So there is at least a whiff of macho BS here, but he seems to sensibly conclude that it's not worth getting killed for some 50-year-old china. He also takes a cheap shot at "midwestern divers" when a diver from Ohio becomes a Doria casualty by suffering a heart attack on the surface before descending. McMurray is from NYC, so this kind of insular view is not too surprising, it's kind of like those people from Brooklyn who are so eager to tell outlanders "you talk funny". While this book is well-written and easy going most of the way, there are a couple of glitches. For example, on page 10, McMurray gives a very confusing explanation of partial pressures as they relate to oxygen toxicity. I knew what he was talking about, but had to think about it a while before I understood how he was saying it. There are a few other cases where some technical jargon creeps in without explanation. All in all, McMurray provides a fascinating description of both the experience of diving on the Andrea Doria, and the sociology of wreck diving on the northeast coast. My response would be two words: Truk Lagoon. Lots of wrecks, but warm water and pretty fishes too. A moderately deep dive or two, such as the San Francisco Maru. You'll spend more getting there, but you'll save on the drysuits and trimix. And leave your goody bag home, you're discouraged from collecting any trophies, which is the way it should be. But then, I am just a warm-water diver from the midwest who likes to look at pretty fishes.
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Summary: Grabbing the reader, here's the answer
Review: ...The book grabbed my attention directly and I stayed up almost all night to read it. It only took two days, but it's a fascinating book about diving on the Luxury Liner Andrea Doria at deep depths most sport divers never consider. I wish the author had added a bit more about Gimble's hole and Bob Hollis who dive on the ship in an attempt to find wealth in the vault. Also, a bit more history, but the writer does great justice to his story without these details. The first chapter is the clincher probably because it scared the tar out of me...a strange accident occurs. It's hard to call it an accident...greed killed most of those divers or rather inexperience in deep water diving. To this day, divers continue to risk their lives for dishes (first and tourist class) from the Andrea Doria. However, there does exist experienced divers who dive these depths on mixed gas with no problem...Great book, I'll read it again and treasure it always...
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Summary: Required Reading For Hardcore Divers
Review: All wreck divers should read this book.
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Summary: Think Twice About The Grand Dame Of The Sea
Review: An impressive work by an experienced diver with a cautionary theme. Those of you, like me, who frequently dive in the Northeast, have had a fascination with the Doria. Mr. McMurray's fast read, high intensity work, has urged patience and caution to all divers who have even, in passing, thought of diving the Doria. This work is compelling, real and unbiased from my point of view. McMurray does what few ego-divers will ever do, which is admit his limitations and mistakes. Refreshing from a diver's point of view and humanistically a plus. An excellent read from a sport, historical, heroic, tragic and entertainment point of view. A nice trip into lives taken too early and unsatiated ambition running rampant.
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Summary: I could not put this book DOWN!!
Review: Deep Decent is very well written. My wife could not understand why I continued to read this book until it was finished. It just kept me intrested the whole way through.
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Summary: Essential Reading
Review: Essential reading for any budding deep or wreck diver. This book is not a technical diving manual, but rather an account of what not to do when you go diving. The book is well written and you will have difficulty in putting it down. Well worth the money and essential reading for any diver with intermediate experience.
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Summary: Fantastic read for divers and non-divers alike!!!
Review: Great book and easy read, this book is full of facts but not to the point of losing the high drama and power of the subject matter. Also the actual photos help tell the story which adds to the chilling effect of the true life tragedies told. Great book. Along with "The Last Dive", these two books are the best wreck-diving books on the market today.
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Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I agree with the other reviewers in that this was a light read and I could not put it down. However, I was disappointed in that it wasn't quite what I was looking for. It's basically a chronicle of how several divers died on the Doria and of the various back-biting among Doria divers and boat captains. I was looking for more "touristy" stuff, like what the author saw during his dives. McMurray is not overly desciptive in that department, choosing instead to go for the more morbid aspects of an obviously very dangerous sport. The first few body recoveries made for interesting reading, but then I got tired of it. I would recommend Gary Gentile's Dive to an Era for much more interesting reading about conditions on the wreck and what the author saw and did (and Gentile did a lot on the Doria). I'll never visit any of these wrecks, so I can only travel to them vicariously through these authors. Also, Dan Lenihan's book Submerged is a great read on historical diving as well as any of Bob Ballard's books.
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Summary: Excellent read for Divers and Non-Divers
Review: I am a recreational diver with an avid love of the sport. This book takes us into an area of diving that is unknown to all but a daring few. Most certifying agencies set a depth limit of 130 feet as the safe zone. The participants in this book are only getting wet at 130 feet. They break all the rules of the recreational diver by going deeper and longer than is ever recommended for safety. As a result many of these adventurers loose their lives in the pursuit of this "living on the edge" mentality. It is obvious, after reading this book, why these limits are set. Determining decompression formulas for the different exotic gas that are needed to survive are a matter of life and death. A diver who has problems at the depths described in this book must fix those problems underwater or suffer a painful and very likely certain death. Few places remain unexplored on this small planet we live on. The depths of the oceans are one of the most hostile environments, while at the same time being an area we know very little about. The drive to get artifacts is such a driving factor that many of these men and, yes a few women, risk their lives of a piece of china. The book does a nice job of exploring what makes these daring individuals tick. Most seem to love the high adventure this type of very dangerous diving affords them. A chapter on the sinking of the Andrea Doria is well written and gives us a ringside seat of one of the worst collisions in maritime history. Mr. McMurray tells the story of the collision in such a way that he has your palms sweating. The book is all the more interesting as Mr. McMurray tells of the conflicts between dive boat Captains in this very competitive industry. The book has a nice selection of photographs of the people who are described. Some of the vivid descriptions of the circumstances by which divers, who make mistakes, end up meeting their demise are not for the faint of heart. It is very evident from Mr. McMurray's detailed accounts of the events that this is one sport that is extremely hostile and unforgiving. The last chapter, giving a follow-up of what has become of those daring enough to dive the "Doria" and survive is very interesting. Some insights into why some continue while others no longer seek the calls of the deep makes for interesting reading into what the experience of diving the Doria has done to their bodies and perspectives on life. The book is written to be of great interest to those knowledgeable of scuba; while at the same time is full of descriptions of the terminology so the non-diver will also enjoy the true and often tragic adventures of those who tempt fate far beneath the waves.
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