An interesting new project has popped up in our neck of the
woods here in west Michigan. The sinking of the Andrea Doria
which took the Chrysler showcar "Norseman" down with her
will be recreated for an upcoming segment of the History
Channel's "Wrath of God" series.
A local steam ship docked in Muskegon, the "S.S. Milwaukee
Clipper" built in 1906 and originally launched as the "S.S.
Juniata" will be used by a local video production company,
Towers Productions to use for shooting the deck scenes and
close ups of the passengers and crew after the Andrea
Doria's July 25th, 1956 ramming by the Swedish liner
"Stockholm" about 50 miles southeast of Nantucket. Some of
you may remember the film crews flying overhead as she sank
11 hours after the collision. Fifty six people died in the
collision and 1565 people were rescued.
The specific episode will tentatively be called "Collisions
in the Mist" and will focus on the disorienting effects of
fog. The segment also is scheduled to include the 1945
collision of a B-25 into the Empire State Building (I wonder
how they'll recreate that one!) and the 1993 train accident
in Alabama involving the Sunset Limited.
Although the Milwaukee Clipper is only 360 feet long and the
Andrea Doria was 700 feet the shots will be tight and such
that believable images should be created.
The black and white Andrea Doria was described as a floating
art gallery. The Clipper was redecorated in 1941 in an art
deco style and used for many years as a passenger and car
shuttle between Muskegon, Michigan and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Sitting in 200 feet of water in the Atlantic the Andrea
Doria has been described as a treasure trove for
adventuresome divers due to its rich collection of souvenirs
including the Norseman. Since 1981 twelve divers have died
trying to recover some of the art treasures and the car. It
will be interesting to see how they handle the Norseman
commentary...
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