Andrea Doria: Dive to an Era

A very well put together book, recounting the original sinking of the Andrea Doria, the "Mount Everest" of scuba diving, and early attempts to salvage it. The second half of the book features the later popularity of the wreck for recreational divers, and early diving expeditions by recreational divers seeking to recover the ship's bell, china and other artwook and artifacts as trophies. For serious divers, the book provides an excellent insight into deep wreck diving in the days before "technical diving" existed as a distinct sport.

Wreck diver and author Gary Gentile does a fine job with this work on the spectacular and ever dangerous wreck of the Italian Liner Andrea Doria, which now rests in 240 of water south of Cape Cod in the approaches to New York. Gentile's book begins with a page of specifications for the ship and then opens by touching on the stories of some other famous shipwrecks, the Empress of Ireland, Lusitania, HMS Edinburgh, to name a few, and the efforts to dive and conduct salvage operations on these wrecks. The wreck of the Andria Doria is a difficult and hazardous dive, not for the faint of heart or the foolish, and Gentile explains very well just why this is so. The book is dedicated to the great underwater filmmaker and diver Peter Gimbel who has long been admired by wreck divers and filmmakers. The underwater exploits on the Doria by another who would also become a great of the underwater film world, Jack McKenney, is also mentioned here. The book details the history of those who first dove on this wreck and their many adventures and misadventures over the years. Fascinating is the story of the very capable men who invented and succcessfully deployed a saturation habitat, "Mother", on the Andria Doria. This history lays the groundwork for the later exploration of the Doria by Gentile. It is a wonderful Who's Who of wreck diving, including such personalities as Steve Gatto, Tom Packer, Bill Nagle, Mike DeCamp, and many other outstanding pioneers of deep water wreck diving. The book also includes a wonderful and exiting chapter on the recovery of the Andrea Dorea's bell by Gentile and his colleagues. The book is illustrated with many fine underwater photos of the wreck. There are also many pictures of the Andrea Doria, the divers and the many artifacts that they recovered. I possess a very large library of shipwreck and diving lore and this outstanding book occupies a prized position on my bookskelf. Hats off to Gary Gentile for providing this great, entertaining and highly readable record of underwater adventure on the Andrea Doria, one of the world's greatest shipwrecks.The Wreck Hunters: Dive to the Wreck of the USS Bass

Simply, it was one of the most exciting and interresting books I have read in quite some time. From the time I got it I could not put it down. The pictures were great as they were in colour. A book I have read over and over and still learn. For books on the Andrea Doria it is quite simply the best. I wish there was a follow up to it.

A quick and excellent read on the dive history of the Doria. Scuba divers will appreciate Gentile's focus of dive information. Not loaded down with much pre-wreck history. But Great detail on the problems facing technical diving on the Doria.