Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria Free

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Great book about a fabled sea tragedy and the continuing tragedy of divers who push themselves too far in the pursuit of prized relics from the lost vessel. The Andrea Doria lies virtually at the absolute possible depth for scuba diving. Reaching her takes an extraordinarily high level of technology and skill, and virtually any mistake guarantees a painful death. Yet Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria of divers keep trying, lusting for the prize of relics for the wreck, especially the ship's china, and as this book describes in chilling detail, many never live to return with their prizes. Here at Walmart. Your email address will never be sold or distributed to a third party for any reason. Sorry, but we can't respond to individual comments. If you need immediate assistance, please contact Customer Care. Your feedback helps us make Walmart shopping better for millions of customers. Recent searches Clear All. Enter Location. Update location. Learn more. Report incorrect product information. Kevin Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria. Walmart Book Format. Select Option. Current selection is: Paperback. Pickup not available. Add to list. Add to registry. On a foggy July evening inthe Italian cruise liner Andrea Doria, bound for New York, was struck broadside by another vessel. In eleven hours, she would sink nearly feet to the murky Atlantic Ocean floor. Thanks to a daring rescue operation, only 51 of more than 1, people died in the tragedy. But the Andrea Doria is still taking lives. Considered the Mt. Everest of diving, the Andrea Doria is the ultimate deepwater wreck challenge. Over the years, a small but fanatical group of extreme scuba divers have investigated the Andrea Doria, pushing themselves to the very limits of human endurance to explore her -- and not all have returned. Diver Kevin McMurray takes you inside this elite club with a hard, honest look at those who go deeper, farther, and closer to the edge than others would ever dream. Deep Descent is the riveting true story of the human spirit overcoming human frailty and of fearsome, mortal risks traded for a hard-core adrenaline rush. Chronicling these adventures in his page-turning narrative and in dozens of dramatic photos, McMurray draws us deeper into the cold heart of the unforgiving sea, giving us a powerful vision of a place to which few will ever have the skills -- or the courage -- to go. About This Item. We aim to show you accurate product information. Manufacturers, suppliers and others provide what you see here, and we have not verified it. See our disclaimer. Specifications Publisher Atria Books. Write a review See all reviews Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria a review. Average Rating: 5. August 26, See more. Reviewed by drmaf drmaf. Written by a librarything. Ask a question Ask a question If you would like to share feedback with us about pricing, delivery or other customer service issues, please contact customer service directly. Your question required. Additional details. Send me an email when my question is answered. Please enter a valid email address. I agree to the Terms and Conditions. Cancel Submit. Pricing policy About our prices. We're committed to providing low prices every day, on everything. So if you find a current lower price from an online retailer on an identical, in-stock product, tell us and we'll match it. See more details at Online Price Match. Related Pages :. Email address. Mobile apps. Walmart Services. Get to Know Us. Customer Service. In The Spotlight. Shop Our Brands. All Rights Reserved. To ensure we are able to help you as best we can, please include your reference number:. Thank you for signing up! How was your experience with this page? Thank you. Thank you! Deep Descent : Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria - -

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Deep Descent by Kevin F. On a dense, foggy, late July evening inthe Italian-flagged cruise liner "Andrea Doria," bound for New York, was struck broadside by another cruise ship. After an agonizing eleven hours, the relentless sea would drag her down, settling the "Doria" uneasily into the murky Atlantic ocean floor nearly two hundred and fifty feet below. AmazingIy, due to a daring and feve On a dense, foggy, late July evening inthe Italian-flagged cruise liner "Andrea Doria," bound for New York, was struck broadside by another cruise ship. AmazingIy, due to a daring and fevered rescue operation by her oceangoing brethren, only fifty-one of the more than 1, people on board both ships were killed in the collision. Years have passed since that tragedy, yet the "Andrea Doria" is still taking lives. Deep Descent Drawn by the sirens call of adventure, a small but fanatical group of extreme scuba divers has long challenged the "Andrea Doria," pushing themselves far beyond the limits of recreational divers, up to the very limits of human endurance. Not all of them have succeeded. Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria "Deep Descent," an author and frequent Doria diver Kevin McMurray takes you inside this elite club, offering an unsparing and unsentimental exploration ofthose men and women who dare to go deeper, farther, and closer to the edge than prudence or common sense might allow. Considered the Mt. Everest of diving, the "Andrea Doria" is the ultimate deepwater wreck challenge -- lying in an area long known as the Bermuda Triangle Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria the Northeast, some fifty miles south of Nantucket Island and two hundred miles east of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. This region, no stranger to disaster, is fog-shrouded and prone to sudden changes of wind, weather, and tide. In addition to many shipping disasters, it has borne mute witness to such recent tragedies as the fatal crash of John F. Kennedy Jr. It is an area that guards its secrets well, only surrendering its treasures to the bravest ormost determined seekers. Told with a vivid and startling clarity, "Deep Descent" is a story of courage and bravado, of the human spirit overcoming human frailty, and of fearsome risks traded for a hardwired adrenaline rush. With each page, McMurray draws us deeper into the cold heart of the unforgiving sea, giving us a powerful vision of a place to which few will ever have the skills or the daring to go. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Original Title. Other Editions 6. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Deep Descentplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Shelves: kindle-googlemine-mine-minenonfictiondeep-blue-seascary-stuff. Reading this book makes me want to get a wreck diving specialty course but at the same time it got me scared shitless. The author laid out his stories really well - despite some typos - and the first chapter - one of the deaths - hooked me. Most if not all deaths on the Doria dives seemed to be the divers' fault whether they realized it or not. Physical Reading this book makes me want to get a wreck diving specialty course but at the same time it got me scared shitless. Physical health is as crucial as ever and the examples of divers not really paying attention to their health with fatal Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria are described here. There are tons of requirements you need to be able to meet the Doria. The book has lots of descriptions on this. Since this book was published in and I want to know the current condition I went Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria asked one dive shop in Instagram urbanmanta who just recently dived the Doria. Here's what they said to me: "Trimix training for a level head, deco procedures training to learn how to sling bottles huh? Hooo boy Back to the book. I like the stories about the captains of the boats catering for Doria dives. These are the legendary trailblazers, the dive gods. The rivalries were described in details especially following the catastrophic ' seasons. Interesting that Doria wreck site actually is not the US authority since it is on international waters so obviously noone can ban any diving activities there. The fact that all dives are done aboard US vessels make a technical leeway for the Coast Guard to 'interfere' but efforts to curb the dives apparently went Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria. As it should be. I also love reading about the history on using various gases, from helimix to trimix, which is apparently the highest level of certification you could get as a technical diver. Looks wayyyy too complicated for me, I understand how some Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria still prefer using the good old Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria air. Also interesting is the fact that the buddy system is actually not used in Doria deep wreck dives. I was fuming inside when reading about these deaths where the fuck were their buddies?? As a recreational diver the buddy system was ingrained to me from the start so reading this book was quite shocking. Diving has been indeed a new hot hobby for lots of people and I have seen dive centers lowering their standards to cater for these new, enthusiastic, no-holds-barred and money-laden divers. There are several who did not ask and read my log let alone ask for my certification cards. They were lucky most of Indonesia's waters are considered 'easy' dives - a far cry for the Doria's Northeast Atlantic waters. Then again, I still feel divers should really know their own limit and not push their luck. Logged dives - experience - and a level head will save you, not your dive guides. Jun 07, Barbara rated it really liked it Shelves: non-fiction. The author of this book is Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria deep-wreck diver, a member of an elite group of enthusiasts that push their bodies, and fate, to extreme limits. Known as the "Mount Everest" of wrecks, the Andrea Doria is a powerful magnet for these men and women; lured by the prospect of touching down on the magnificent liner's deck, and the hope of carrying home an artifact, they dive more than Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria hundred feet down in cold, murky waters - and sometimes pay the ultimate price for the experience. McMurray gives a v The author of this book is a deep-wreck diver, a member of an elite group of enthusiasts that push their bodies, and fate, to extreme limits. McMurray gives a vivid recounting of the collision between the Doria and the Stockholm, and the eleven hours before the liner slipped beneath the waves, which allowed for what is considered to be the greatest sea rescue of all time. He describes the unique challenges faced at such depths, the early attempts to dive the wreck, and the ever bolder explorations of her interior. Not surprisingly, much ink is devoted to detailed explanations of what can, and does, go wrong; one chapter is dedicated to several divers who lost their lives during the summers of and The wreck has been thought both evil and cursed. The author discusses the history of diving, both as a recreational and extreme sport, the cliques and snobbery that exist, and the competition between dive boat operations. He also explains evolving technology and gas mixtures, which are considered both boon and bane. At times very technical, at others simply fascinating, the author navigates issues of risk and liability, and considers all possible factors in the fatalities, never resting blame on any individual. He writes with passion for the sport and respect for its dangers. Along with what I consider it's sister book, "Shadow Divers", Deep Descent is a engrossing, riveting, and ultimately terrific book about diving the wreck of the Italian Luxury liner Andrea Doria. The book profiles the liners demise, and also the demise of some eight people who had died to that point diving her wreck. I for one cannot fathom a more horrible way to die than being lost in an underwater maze, panicked and running out of air. It's a scenario that repeats itself all too often i Along with what I consider it's sister book, "Shadow Divers", Deep Descent is a engrossing, riveting, and ultimately terrific book about diving the wreck of the Italian Luxury liner Andrea Doria. It's a scenario that repeats itself all too often in these two books. We learn about the men who had their lives ended in pursuit of their dreams: To dive the Mt Everest of scuba. An utterly fascinating read, which helps the reader understand why these men suffered the same fate. Along with many pictures, the writing is very good, albeit a bit technical for the non scuba diver but, easy enough to get around. What makes otherwise intelligent and sane men dive ft below the North Atlantic to grab a souvenir when any mistake can be fatal is a mystery to me, but it makes a great read. Highly recommended. The ocean spray stings my eyes, the breeze whips my hair about, the sweetness of salt tingles my tongue, as this history of the Andrea Doria reaches out to grasp me firmly in a tale of travel, tragedy, adventure, rescue, and deep sea daring. I originally purchased this book as an accessory to Shadow Divers 5 Stars. The two books are somewhat intertwined by a deep sea skin diving rivalry decades old between the boats Seeker and Wahoo, told from different decks as it were. As an added bonus are The ocean spray stings my eyes, the breeze whips my Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria about, the sweetness of salt tingles my tongue, as this history of the Andrea Doria reaches out to grasp me firmly in a tale of travel, tragedy, adventure, rescue, and deep sea daring. As an added bonus are the photos, and the epilogue, excellent both. View 2 comments.

Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. Enabling JavaScript in your browser will allow you to experience all the features of our site. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. NOOK Book. Audio MP3 on CD. Henry Fielding Wearing close to two-hundred pounds of scuba gear, Gary Gilligan was anxious to make his ungainly entry into the rolling seas of the Atlantic. The neoprene dry suit and his heavy undergarments had him sweating bullets under the hot July- afternoon sun. Prior to his giant step outward and down from Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria deck of the dive boat RV WahooGary glanced around and surveyed his surroundings with only the narrow range of vision that his dive mask afforded him. Land had long since disappeared over the horizon, and no other vessel was in sight. The glare of the sun reflecting off the glassy seas made him wince behind his faceplate. He of course was aware of the activity around him. Getting into the water is always a major hassle for deep divers, and attendance by crew members and fellow divers prior to entry is a necessity, not a luxury. Still, it was tough for Gary Gilligan to be patient, overburdened as he was with gear, not to mention with anxiety. Gary had to remind himself to be cool: getting all bent out of shape before entering the water was a bad idea, he knew. It had a way of biting you back in the ass. Gary tried to maintain his balance, but he felt encumbered with all the hardware, encased from head to toe in the suffocating dry suit. Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria was not easy what with the three-foot swells gently lifting up the fifty-five-foot fiberglass boat, only to drop it back down into the following trough, making the deck of the vessel an unstable platform. The cerulean skies high overhead, Gary noticed, still had contrails vectoring eastward to Europe, left behind by the streaking Concorde whose sonic booms had rocked the boat just minutes earlier. Then the dorsal and caudal fins of the circling blue sharks and their ominous forms beneath suddenly disappeared. They had descended into the depths, Gary thought, knowing full well that he would catch glimpses of their skittish shadows on his long swim to the bottom. Steadying himself on the gunwale, he was relishing the thought of immersion Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria the cold, blue-green waters of the Atlantic. Finally he would be on his way down the distance of a seventeen-floor skyscraper to the wreck of the Andrea Doria. Gary checked to see if his buddy Sally Wahrmann was ready. They gave each other the thumb-to-forefinger salute indicating that everything was okay. Gary pressed his mask tight to his face, snugged his double tanks to his back, and entered the ocean. With only twenty-five minutes allotted Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria bottom time, Gary and Sally quickly emptied their bloated dry suits of air and kicked Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria for the bow anchor line that led down to the sunken luxury liner. Gary was surprised to see three divers lingering on a line running from the anchor line aft at the fifty-foot mark. Kicking down past them, Gary gave a quick glance back up. He could see the three men were having difficulties. Just a mere hour ago the three had rigged the two long sets of hoses and breathing regulators that were hooked to a tank of pure oxygen aboard the Wahoo and had secured them to a Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria line amidships at the desired depth of twenty feet. Gary could now see that one of those divers, twenty-seven-year-old John Ormsby, one of the charterers of the trip, had gotten hung up in the traverse line. Another diver, Billy Deans, had come to his aid to untangle him. Gary could see they were handling the situation and continued his descent. In deep diving it was a radically new practice to use supplemental oxygen in water. Breathing pure oxygen after a dive was always known to be beneficial, but using it underwater had only recently been advocated, Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria Billy Deans of Key West, Florida. Deans knew it was a quick way to expunge the nitrogen gas that had been absorbed by the blood and soft tissues under the crushing load of the ocean. The tiny nitrogen bubbles released by the rapid reduction of pressure, if not compensated for by a slow ascent and a supply of oxygen, could spread through the body, crippling or even killing the diver. Divers called it getting "bent," but the medical community referred to it as decompression sickness. Sally Wahrmann never saw the unfolding drama above her. She was focused on the dark abyss beneath her. Only later would she hear the story and think about how it was a tragic foreshadowing of what was to happen just minutes later, more than two-hundred feet beneath the surface deep within the holds of the sunken steel sarcophagus of the Andrea Doria. No one would ever guess that Sally Wahrmann was a pioneer in the world of deep diving. At thirty-nine, Sally looked more like the accounting professor she actually was in the professional world. Only five foot five and edging precipitously toward two hundred pounds, Sally was one of the most accomplished scuba divers -- male or female - - in the rarefied world of deep-wreck diving. She had logged over sixty dives alone on the Doria. On July 31,Sally was again on the Wahoo. She was more excited than usual as several Florida diving luminaries were also aboard. Spencer Slate from Key Largo had chartered the Wahoo. It had always been a dream of Slate's to dive the Andrea Doriaso he had put the group together to charter the Wahoo. Billy Deans owned Key West Diver, a dive shop and training business. Deans was a trailblazer in deep diving, and his exploits in Florida-water shipwrecks were the stuff of legend. Neal Watson, the owner of Undersea Adventures, which consisted of diving resorts in Florida and the Caribbean, also had the record at the time for the deepest dive on scuba at feet. John Ormsby, Deans's best friend, dive buddy, and instructor at his shop, had the record for free diving, or skin diving, down to feet on just one breath. Rick Frehsee was an internationally acclaimed underwater photographer, whose work had appeared in National Geographic among others. Also in the charter were Dick Masten, a police officer, and Lou Delotto, an airline pilot, both well-known in the Florida dive community. It was a first trip for all of them to the Andrea Doria. For all his deep-water experience, Billy Deans had never dove outside the state of Florida. Spencer Slate, who had chartered the boat, wasn't with them. On one of his training dives for the DoriaSlate had taken a minor hit of decompression sickness in feet of water off Key West, and his doctor thought for safety's sake Slate should back out of the deep Andrea Doria dive. The Florida group was there for one reason: china. Pieces of china, crystal, and silverware with the mark of the Italia steamship company are more precious than Spanish doubloons to wreck divers. The Floridians had discussed the china the day before departure with veteran Doria diver Gary Gentile, who was crewing on the Wahoo. Gentile had already made a trip out to the wreck the week before, and he had his recovered artifacts from the first-class gift shop. Deans remembered the trinkets had stirred up "a fever, a frenzy, a rabidity," among the Florida group. On the way out to the wreck site the only topic of conversation was the Andrea Doria ship plans and how to get Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria artifacts off her. Rick Jaszyn, another deep diver with Doria experience, was also crewing aboard the Wahoo. A New Jersey resident, Jaszyn was only twenty- seven years old, but he had logged hundreds of dives on the deep wrecks found in the waters of the North Atlantic. He was the only diver, besides Gary Gentile and Steve Bielenda, who knew the Florida contingent personally. He had the highest regard for their diving skills. Jaszyn was amazed when Ormsby made a free dive to the top of the Wilkes-Barrea depth of feet. But on this Doria trip Jaszyn was alarmed by Ormsby's "gung ho" determination to collect some artifacts on his first visit to the wreck. It was not Ormsby's diving talents he doubted. Jaszyn knew that Ormsby's experience came from the totally different Florida environment. Up north, diving in higher latitudes was an "equipment-intensive" experience, plus visibility and cold water factored in as well. Rick Jaszyn tried to cool Ormsby's jets, but knew he Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria the "fever. However, diving the recumbent luxury liner is outside the realm of recreational diving. Unlike on a recreational dive, on a Doria dive you have to contemplate the very real possibility that you may not get out alive. The Doriaas veteran wreck divers simply refer to her, lies in feet of frequently storm-tossed waters. Even from Montauk it was still a ten-hour trip. It isn't just Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria mercurial Atlantic that conspires against you. The sleeping quarters aboard the speedy fiberglass Wahoo are laughingly referred to as "spice racks. The smell of fear pervades belowdecks preceding any Doria dive. The common belief is that if you are not scared about doing the dive, you are either lying or stupid. Few get much sleep before the dive, and the fatigue adds to the likelihood of a mishap. The Andrea Doria is one shipwreck the mainstream diving community prefers to ignore -- and for good reason. Travel magazines and publications like Skin Diver Magazine promote scuba diving as a nice, safe recreational sport. Scuba advertisers -- the equipment manufacturers and Caribbean resorts in particular -- tend to illustrate their ads with curvy, bikini-clad models and smiling families suited up in color-coordinated dive gear. Doria divers in bulky, ugly dry suits, shouldering backbreaking double tanks, bedecked with crowbars, hammers, chisels, goodie bags, and big, powerful underwater lights look like intimidating creatures from another planet. These explorers of the deep also violate the widely accepted maximum depth of diving of feet. Going beyond that limit is a dangerous heresy to the diving industry. Below feet, the risks to divers with a limited air supply are substantial. Nitrogen narcosis, the "rapture of the deep" as scuba inventor and underwater cinematic chronicler Jacques Cousteau called it, intoxicates divers to varying degrees at those depths, often impairing judgment with fatal results. Nitrogen routinely makes up almost 80 percent of the air we breathe in, with obviously no ill effects. But when nitrogen is compressed into a steel cylinder and transported down to that depth, it becomes a gaseous anesthetic. In the infancy of scuba, divers used to refer to it as Martini's Law: every fifty feet down was equal to drinking one dry martini on an empty stomach. A diver on the Doria would suffer the effects of four to five martinis. But narcosis is sneaky for most people because it induces a pleasant euphoric feeling, inability to concentrate, and a short attention span.