Series to Feature Ships Lost at Sea

"Andrea Doria: Dive to Adventure and Danger" is the first in a three-part lecture series, "Lost at Sea," that highlights Penn State research on shipwrecks. The "Andrea Doria" presentation will take place at April 13 in 26 Hosler Building on the Penn State University Park campus. David Bright, Penn State alumnus and president of Nautical Research Group Inc. of New Jersey, will present a multifaceted view of the Andrea Doria from her initial planning and construction to salvage dives in the 260 feet of cold North Atlantic waters. The Andrea Doria was an Italian steamship with 1,705 passengers and crew on board that was struck in fog off the coast of Rhode Island by the Swedish-American liner Stockholm. The ship was traveling from Genoa, Italy, to New York City in 1956. The 29,000-ton liner sank in 11 hours. Bright is a shipwreck historian and deep technical diver. He studied the Titanic for more than 30 years and in 2003 and 2005, as part of scientific research, dove three miles to the wreck site of the ship on the Atlantic floor. He has studied the degradation of the ship caused by increased microbial activity. He also has worked on the wreck of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. (Source: Penn State Live)