Atlanta (Global Adventures): To technical divers, the “SS Andrea Doria” is something like the Mount Everest, something most like to dive at least once, and something many experienced divers did only dive once. The Andrea Doria still is a true graveyard in the Atlantic Ocean decades after its sinking in 1956.

Named after the 16th-century Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, the ocean liner had a gross register tonnage of 29,100 and a capacity of about 1,200 passengers and 500 crew members. On 25 July 1956, approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts bound for New York City, Andrea Doria collided with the eastward-bound MS Stockholm of the Swedish American Line in what became one of history's most infamous maritime disasters. While 1,660 passengers and crew were rescued, 46 people died. At least fifteen scuba divers have lost their lives diving the wreck over the years.

Due to the luxurious appointments and good condition of the wreck, with the top of the wreck lying initially in 160 feet (50 m) of water, the 697-foot vessel has been a frequent target of treasure divers. The skills and equipment required to successfully dive the wreck, such as the use of mixed gases and staged decompression, put it in the realm of only the most experienced technical divers. Dr. Robert Ballard, who visited the site in a U.S. Navy sub in 1995, reported that thick fishing nets draped the hull. An invisible web of thin fishing lines, which can easily snag scuba gear, provides more danger.

The day after Andrea Doria sank; Peter Gimbel and Joseph Fox managed to locate the wreck of the ship, and published pictures of the wreck in TIME magazine. Gimbel later conducted a number of salvage operations on the ship, including salvaging the First Class Bank Safe in 1981. 22-year-old Evelyn Bartram Dudas was the first woman to successfully dive onto the Andrea Doria. Dudas reached the wreck in June 1967; her future husband, John Dudas, retrieved the ship's compass. The ship's bell, often considered the 'prize' of a wreck, was retrieved in the late 1980s by a team of divers led by Bill Nagle.

The wreck has aged and deteriorated extensively, with the hull now fractured and collapsed. The upper decks have slowly slid off the wreck to the seabed below. As a result of this transformation, a large debris field flows out from the hull of the liner. Once-popular access points frequented by divers, such as Gimbel's Hole, no longer exist. Divers call Andrea Doria a "noisy" wreck, as it emits various sounds due to deterioration and the currents' moving broken metal around the inside of the hull.

The wreck lies on its side in 235 to 255 feet of water, and many of the passageways have begun to collapse.

What type of training does a diver need to dive the Andrea Doria? A user named MSilvia summed it up on another discussion forum:

Assuming the diver isn't a reckless crazy person, a prudent plan might go something like this:

1. “Get OW certified;
2. Do 100-150 NDL dives, preferably in low visibility water with temperatures below 60 degrees F. Get AOW, EANx, and Rescue certified along the way. Consider Cavern training as an introduction to penetration/overhead diving;
3. Practice diving in doubles with a drysuit. Get comfortable shooting a bag from depth, using a reel, and carrying a stage-mounted AL40 as a "pony". Consider taking GUE-F (aka DIR-F) and a wreck penetration class;
4. Get Advanced Nitrox/Deco training, and do another 25+ deco dives;
5. Get Recreational Trimix training, and do another 25+ Trimix dives between 100' and 150' (33 and 50 meters). Consider DPV training;
6. Get full Trimix/Tech certification, and build your comfort level diving beyond 150';
7. Dive the Doria when you feel comfortable doing so. I'd guess you'll probably have 300+ dives at a minimum and have easily spent $20K on gear, gas, charters, and training before you're anywhere near ready. Don't rush it... enjoy the process.”

Adding closed circuit Rebreather (CCR) training could be a good idea, since a Rebreather will help to limit decompression requirements. However, some divers may argue that Rebreathers are not such a good idea if penetration dives are planned on the wreck, due to bailout requirements.

Still, any one of a dozen things can go wrong: Equipment can malfunction; divers can run out of air or get snagged in the spidery cables dangling throughout the ship or the fishing lines outside the wreckage. Visibility on the bottom is usually 20 feet or less; the currents are strong and ever changing. Jacques Cousteau made a single dive to inspect the Andrea Doria. He surfaced to say he would not return. The water was too deep, too shark-infested, and the currents too tricky for his safety and health, he said.

Gary Gentile and Kevin McMurray did write books about diving the wreck (Andrea Doria: Dive to an Era, and Deep Descent: Adventure and death Diving the Andrea Doria). Other divers made history while exploring and exploiting the wreck. Names like Billy Deans, Dan Crowell, John Chatterton, Richie Kohler, Bill Nagle and others are tied to the wreck.

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The first dives after the sinking of the Andrea Doria can be seen in this YouTube video.

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