The turbine steamer Andrea Doria was built for the Italia Line in 1951. Completed in December 1952, she made her maiden voyage from Genoa to New York in January 1953 and proved a popular ship from the start. Registered at 29,083 tons gross, she measured 700 feet in length with a 90 foot beam, had a maximum speed of 25 knots and could carry 1,241 passengers and a crew of 563. On 25th July 1956, whilst steaming in thick fog 100 nautical miles out of New York, she was rammed by the Swedish-America liner Stockholm and rapidly developed a heavy list. Stockholm was also badly damaged but seemed in no danger of sinking so took 533 people aboard from Andrea Doria and then headed for New York. Other vessels answered the distress calls quickly with the result that the loss of life was very small, but the following afternoon Andrea Doria heeled over and sank in what had been the most dramatic incident on the North Atlantic passenger route in the post-War era.