The Andrea Doria: Pride of Italy

On the night of July 25, 1956, the ocean liner Andrea Doria was off the coast of Nantucket steaming towards New York. Converging on the same path but in the opposite direction was the Swedish passenger ship Stockholm. Nantucket. Thick fog blanketed the Atlantic that night. Radar showed each ship the other's blip, yet through a chain of misread signals and last-second turns, the Andrea Doria and Stockholm collided.

The Stockholm's reinforced bow tore into the Andrea Doria's starboard side, ripping open several decks and killing passengers instantly in their cabins. The Italian liner, already listing dangerously due to a design flaw in her fuel tanks, began taking on water and rolling further with every passing hour.

What followed was one of the great maritime rescues of the 20th century. Nearby ships, including the Ile de France, diverted course and worked through the night to pull survivors from lifeboats in the darkness. By morning on July 26, with more than 1,600 people safely evacuated, the Andrea Doria finally rolled onto her side and slipped beneath the waves, watched by cameras and a stunned public.

This episode traces the final hours of the Andrea Doria: the decisions on the bridge, the scramble to save lives, and the questions that still surround how two ships equipped with modern radar ever found themselves on a collision course.

My guest for this episode is wreck diver Andrea Murdoch Alpini. You can find him at https://www.phidiving.com/ and https://www.wreckdiving.it/.

This episode was originally published as Episode 4 of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs on October 4, 2022.

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano.

All episodes, images, and sources can be found at [⁠shipwrecksandseadogs.com⁠](https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com).

Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. [⁠⁠⁠](⁠⁠https://www.seansigfried.com)https://www.seansigfried.com⁠⁠⁠

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The SS Eastland Disaster — Chicago, 1915

On the morning of July 24, 1915, the SS Eastland was moored in the Chicago River, preparing to carry passengers to a company picnic across Lake Michigan. It never got underway. As passengers boarded, the ship began to list, then rolled onto its side while still tied to the dock, in water barely twenty feet deep.

The disaster killed 844 people. Most victims were workers at the Western Electric Company's Hawthorne Works, many of them young, many of them immigrants, dressed for a day off.

My guest for this episode is Paul Durica from the Chicago History Museum.

This is a replay of Episode 10 of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs from December 13, 2022.

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. ⁠⁠seansigfried.com⁠⁠

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👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is part of the Into History podcast channel. Subscribe here: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.intohistory.com/shipwreckspod ** No AI was used to create this episode.

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In May 1941, the German battleship Bismarck, one of the most powerful warships ever built, sank the British battlecruiser HMS Hood in a matter of minutes at the Battle of the Denmark Strait. What followed was one of the largest hunts in naval history. After three days of desperate pursuit across the North Atlantic, a crippling torpedo strike from a lone Swordfish biplane, and a final, brutal showdown that sent the pride of the German fleet to the bottom of the ocean. This episode traces the full story of the Bismarck's fateful voyage, from the loss of the Hood to the ship's last stand against the Royal Navy, in one of World War II's most dramatic naval battles.

**🎧 LISTEN AD-FREE + BONUS EPISODES** 👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is part of the Into History podcast channel. Subscribe here: ⁠⁠https://www.intohistory.com/shipwreckspod⁠⁠ 👉Get exclusive bonus episodes and merch on Patreon: ⁠⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/patreon⁠⁠ 👉Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/apple⁠⁠ 👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs Merchandise is available! ⁠⁠https://shop.shipwrecksandseadogs.com⁠⁠ 👉You can support the podcast with a donation of any amount at: ⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shipwreckspod⁠⁠ ** No AI was used to create this episode. Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. ⁠⁠https://www.seansigfried.com⁠⁠

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The Sinking and Discovery of the USCGC Tampa On September 26, 1918, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa vanished into the Bristol Channel after a German U-boat torpedo struck her hull, killing all 131 sailors and personnel aboard in what remains the largest single loss of American life in combat during World War I. For over a century, the ship's final resting place stayed a mystery until April 2026, when a British volunteer dive team called Gasperados located her wreckage roughly 50 miles off Newquay, Cornwall, more than 300 feet beneath the Atlantic. In this video, we cover the full story of the Tampa: her origins as the Revenue Cutter Miami in 1912, her service on international ice patrols, her wartime role escorting convoys through U-boat-infested waters, the night she was lost, and the painstaking three-year search that finally solved one of the Coast Guard's oldest mysteries. 🔹 The Tampa's early years and transformation into a Coast Guard cutter 🔹 Her WWI convoy escort missions across the Atlantic 🔹 The attack by German submarine UB-91 🔹 How the Gasperados dive team and Coast Guard historians identified the wreck 🔹 What the discovery means for the families of the lost crew Guests for this episode are: 🔹 Dr. Bill Thiessen, Historian for the USCG Atlantic Area 🔹 Dom Robinson, Gasperados Dive Team 🔹 Gary Thomas, CDR Gary M. Thomas, USCG (Ret.) 👉 Dom Robinson's YouTube Channel:  @DeepWreckDiver  👉 Gasperados Dive Team: https://www.facebook.com/p/Gasperados-Dive-Team-61579320759276/ 👉 US Coast Guard History: https://www.history.uscg.mil/home/history-program/ 👉 Foundation for Coast Guard History: https://fcgh.org/ #USCGCTampa #CoastGuardHistory #WWIShipwreck #NavalHistory #Shipwreck #WorldWarI #MaritimeHistory #Cornwall #UBoat #podcast #history **🎧 LISTEN AD-FREE + BONUS EPISODES** 👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is part of the Into History podcast channel. Subscribe here: ⁠⁠https://www.intohistory.com/shipwreckspod⁠⁠ 👉Get exclusive bonus episodes and merch on Patreon: ⁠⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/patreon⁠⁠ 👉Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/apple⁠⁠ 👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs Merchandise is available! ⁠⁠https://shop.shipwrecksandseadogs.com⁠⁠ 👉You can support the podcast with a donation of any amount at: ⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shipwreckspod⁠⁠ ** No AI was used to create this episode. Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. ⁠⁠https://www.seansigfried.com⁠⁠

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In the summer of 1813, American and British forces raced to build fleets on the shores of Lake Erie, each side betting that naval control would decide the fate of the western frontier. On September 10th, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry sailed his squadron out to meet the British fleet under Robert Barclay. Early in the battle, Perry's flagship Lawrence was battered into a wreck, forcing him to row through open water under fire to reach the Niagara and continue the fight. Turning the tables, Perry drove his second ship straight into the British line, breaking their formation and forcing a full surrender within hours. The victory gave the U.S. total command of Lake Erie, cut off British supply lines, and paved the way for General William Henry Harrison's recapture of Detroit and the Battle of the Thames. Perry's now famous "Don't Give Up The Ship" battle flag resides at the US Naval Academy as one of its most treasured artifacts.

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👉Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/apple⁠⁠ 👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs Merchandise is available! ⁠⁠https://shop.shipwrecksandseadogs.com⁠⁠ 👉You can support the podcast with a donation of any amount at: ⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shipwreckspod⁠⁠ ** No AI was used to create this episode. Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. ⁠⁠https://www.seansigfried.com⁠⁠

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In this episode, Rich speaks with author Julie Gerstenblatt, author of Daughters of Nantucket, which won the New England Society Book Award for Fiction, to discuss her new historical novel, The Stargazer of Nantucket.

Set in 1851, the novel follows Winifred Starbuck, an eighteen-year-old who stows away on her parents' final merchant voyage from Nantucket Island to San Francisco and across the Pacific to the ports of China, only to uncover a long-buried secret that reveals the truth behind her parents' desperate fear. Gerstenblatt and Rich dig into the real maritime history behind the fiction, including the novel's connection to the record-setting maiden voyage of the clipper ship Flying Cloud, the golden age of sail, the dangers of 19th-century trade voyages, and what it took to bring this seafaring world to life on the page.

To purchase Stargazer of Nantucket, please visit https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=Julie+Gerstenblatt

For more information about Julie Gerstenblatt please visit https://www.juliegerstenblatt.com/.

**🎧 LISTEN AD-FREE + BONUS EPISODES** 👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is part of the Into History podcast channel. Subscribe here: ⁠https://www.intohistory.com/shipwreckspod⁠ 👉Get exclusive bonus episodes and merch on Patreon: ⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/patreon⁠ 👉Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/apple⁠ 👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs Merchandise is available! ⁠https://shop.shipwrecksandseadogs.com⁠ 👉You can support the podcast with a donation of any amount at: ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shipwreckspod⁠ *No remuneration was received by or paid by Rich Napolitano or Nautilus Media, LLC for Ms. Gerstenblatt's appearance on Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs. An advance copy of the author's work was provided by the publisher for review.

** No AI was used to create this video. Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. ⁠https://www.seansigfried.com⁠ You can also listen to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. ⁠https://www.podfollow.com/shipwreckspod

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The Terror and the Franklin Expedition

Rich recently appeared as a guest on Based on a True Story Podcast with Dan Lefebvre to discuss fact versus fiction in AMC's The Terror, Season 1. This series is a sci-fi/horror adaptation of the novel by Dan Simmons called The Terror portraying the 1845 Franklin Expedition as they search for a passage through the Canadian Arctic on HMS Erebus and HMS Terror.

Based on a True Story Podcast compares historical accuracy versus what was portrayed on screen, and delves into some of the biggest films and television shows of all time. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube.

For more information about Based on a True Story Podcast, please visit BasedonaTrueStoryPodcast.com.

All episodes, notes, and transcripts can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.

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The Herald of Free Enterprise: How a Routine Ferry Crossing Became One of Britain's Deadliest Peacetime Disasters | Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs On the night of March 6, 1987, the roll-on/roll-off ferry Herald of Free Enterprise left the Belgian port of Zeebrugge bound for Dover with nearly 500 passengers and crew aboard. Minutes after clearing the harbor, the ship rolled onto its side in shallow water, claiming 193 lives in one of the most consequential maritime disasters of the 20th century. In this episode of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs, host Rich Napolitano traces the chain of small failures, design flaws, and operational pressures that turned a routine cross-Channel run into catastrophe. Topics discussed include the open bow doors that let the North Sea pour onto the car deck, the free surface effect that capsized the ship in under two minutes, the frantic rescue effort in freezing water, and the Sheen Inquiry that famously diagnosed the ferry operator's culture as suffering from a "disease of sloppiness." This disaster reshaped international maritime safety law and changed RO-RO ferry future designs. **🎧 LISTEN AD-FREE + BONUS EPISODES** 👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is part of the Into History podcast channel — subscribe here: https://www.intohistory.com/shipwreckspod 👉Get exclusive bonus episodes and merch on Patreon: https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/patreon 👉Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/apple 👉Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs Merchandise is available! https://shop.shipwrecksandseadogs.com 👉You can support the podcast with a donation of any amount at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shipwreckspod #HeraldOfFreeEnterprise #ShipwreckHistory #ZeebruggeDisaster #MaritimeDisaster #FerryDisaster #MaritimeHistory #NauticalHistory #HistoryPodcast #ShipwrecksAndSeaDogs #Townsend #Thoresen ** No AI was used to create this video. Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. https://www.seansigfried.com You can also listen to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. https://www.podfollow.com/shipwreckspod

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The Wreck of the Whaleship Mentor (1832) | Shipwreck, Captivity & Survival in Palau | Interview with Eric Jay Dolin In May 1832, the American whaleship Mentor was battling fierce storms in the western Pacific when disaster struck. Wrecked on a remote reef in the Micronesian archipelago of Palau, eleven surviving crewmen found themselves stranded in unfamiliar territory, their supplies dwindling and their fate uncertain. Within days, indigenous Palauan warriors approached bearing axes, clubs, and spears. What followed was years of captivity, tribal warfare, dashed hopes, and a fraught naval rescue mission that captivated the American public. In this episode, host Rich Napolitano sits down with award-winning maritime historian and bestselling author Eric Jay Dolin to discuss his book The Wreck of the Mentor: A True Story of Death, Despair, and Deliverance in the Age of Sail. Dolin brings this largely forgotten saga back to life, a gripping story of survival, cultural collision, and the realities of life at sea in the Age of Sail. In this episode: 👉The Mentor's doomed voyage and how the wreck occurred 👉The surviving crew's first contact with the Indigenous people of Palau 👉Years of captivity and the struggle to survive 👉The naval rescue mission and the diplomatic challenges it created 👉What the Mentor's story reveals about 19th-century whaling and American maritime history About Eric Jay Dolin: Eric Jay Dolin is the bestselling author of seventeen works of maritime history, including Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, Black Flags, Blue Waters, and Rebels at Sea. His books have received numerous awards, including the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature. Learn more at ⁠ericjaydolin.com⁠. * No compensation or remuneration of any kind was received by Rich Napolitano or Nautilus Media LLC for Mr. Dolin's appearance in this episode, other than a copy of the author's work. ** No AI was used to create this video. All episodes and transcripts can be found at ⁠shipwrecksandseadogs.com⁠.

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This episode was written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. Original theme music is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sean Sigfried⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is a maritime history podcast about shipwrecks, tragic loss, and incredible accomplishments on the world's oceans and waterways.

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In 1913, the fully-rigged British vessel Glenesslin strangely sailed straight into the rocks on the coast of Oregon, despite relatively calm weather. Locals reported the captain and crew were drunk, and rumors of insurance fraud swirled. Many questions still remain about why this beautiful ship was wrecked on the rocks.
All episodes and transcripts can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.
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This episode was written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. Original theme music is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sean Sigfried⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

**No AI was used during the production of this episode.**

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Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is a maritime history podcast about shipwrecks, tragic loss, and incredible accomplishments on the world's oceans and waterways.

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In April 1942, sixteen American B-25 bombers lifted off from the deck of USS Hornet and struck the Japanese home islands in a raid that stunned the Empire of Japan. But for the Chinese people of Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, the Doolittle Raid triggered a catastrophe. In this episode of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs, host Rich Napolitano examines the brutal Japanese military campaign that followed during a campaign of deliberate terror against civilian populations who had aided the American airmen. What unfolded was one of the most horrifying chapters of World War II in the Pacific: a systematic campaign of slaughter, rape, and the deliberate weaponization of disease against an unarmed population.

At the center of that horror was Unit 731, the Imperial Japanese Army's covert biological and chemical warfare research program. Operating under the cover of a public health unit, Unit 731 conducted lethal human experimentation on prisoners of war and civilians, developing plague, cholera, and typhoid as battlefield weapons. These weapons were deployed against Chinese towns and villages during the reprisal campaign.

Guest Jenny Chan of Pacific Atrocities education examines the documented record of these atrocities, the scale of the death toll, and the deeply troubling postwar decision by American authorities to grant Unit 731 scientists immunity from prosecution in exchange for their research data.

For ad-free listening, access to exclusive bonus episodes, and free perks, please subscribe to the Officer's Club!

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This episode was written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. Original theme music is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sean Sigfried⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

**No AI was used during the production of this episode.**

Please leave a rating and review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Podchaser⁠⁠⁠⁠, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs tee shirts, hats, and other items are available at ⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.shipwrecksandseadogs.com⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is a maritime history podcast about shipwrecks, tragic loss, and incredible accomplishments on the world's oceans and waterways.

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