1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1973 1974 1975 July 26 at 8:45 p.m. 1976 1977 1978 1979 ROBERT “BOB” HOLLIS and the 1980 1981 1982 first saturation dive on the wreck of the 1983 1984 1985 1986 ANDREA DORIA 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Photo: Ocean Media Inc. 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 202 ROBERT “BOB” HOLLIS DIVE ADVENTURES 203 and the first saturation dive on the wreck of the “Andrea Doria” ROBERT “BOB” HOLLIS AND THE FIRST SATURATION DIVE ON THE “ANDREA DORIA” Robert “Bob” Hollis was part of a pioneering project to secure an underwater habitat on the side of the wreck of the “Andrea Doria” and to go into saturation with the aim of cutting into the wreck and salvaging the first-class purser’s safe, which was rumored to be filled with money, jewelry and other valuables. No other divers had successfully penetrated the wreck’s hostile interior. The night was dark as outer space and the divers faced an July 25, 1956, while inbound from Genoa to New York City, uncertain descent into unknown waters. During the day, she entered the narrow straights of Massachusetts near Nan- they had been surprised at the number of sharks attracted by tucket Island in heavy fog and collided with the Swedish 1973 their preliminary work in launching the small steel habitat cruise liner Stockholm on an outward bound course. The 1973 called “Mother.” Not much bigger than a small decompres- sharp impact to the Doria’s starboard side caused fractures sion chamber, it was to be tied into the wreck’s port side at to the hull and seawater began pouring in. The ship immedi- about 170 feet deep. The expedition was fraught with haz- ately began a sharp list and began to heel over dangerously. ards and unexpected contingencies. Hollis wondered quietly This rendered half of her lifeboats unusable, and the captain what the hell he was doing fighting for his life underwater, and crew took emergency procedures to muster the passen- tossing more money than he could afford into something gers to safe areas while getting alerts out to other vessels. everyone said was impossible. “Why didn’t I just stay back in Luckily, proximity to shore and the fast response of rescue the damned office?” he ruminated to himself. And then he craft allowed 1,660 of those aboard to survive. Only 46 lives jumped into the black water to begin his descent. were lost. The ship remained afloat for over 11 hours, but all The legendary Italian cruise ship Andrea Doria was efforts were expended on evacuation of human lives. The launched on June 16, 1951, and quickly became a symbol of next morning the ship plunged to a depth of nearly 230 feet pride for Italy as the largest and most luxurious vessel of its with cargo, ship’s safes, and passengers’ personal items sink- kind in the post-World War II era. At 701 feet (213 meters) ing along with her. She came to rest on her starboard side in length and nearly 30,000 tons, she was a masterpiece of and was considered to be beyond salvage. engineering and style carrying over 1,200 passengers in The day after she sank American diver Peter Gimbel, who comfort and elegance. She enjoyed a brief but successful life would go on to fame with the great white shark documen- of trans-Atlantic service after being put into service for her tary Blue Water, White Death, dove briefly on the wreck and maiden voyage on January 14, 1953. But barely three and took some photographs that were published to wide acclaim half years later disaster struck: On the night of Wednesday in Life magazine the same week. “We’re at 170 feet in the dark, lost on the wreck BOB HOLLIS of the ‘Andrea Doria’… I thought, ‘Damn, we’re in trouble.’ ” Bob Hollis is decidedly old school. He built reached their 40th anniversary in the div- about Oceanic without going immediately with the fact that he still dives when most Robert “Bob” Hollis underwater camera housings and strobes ing industry. But only one, Oceanic, has had to the character that conceived and found- companies are run by their accountants. out of necessity because in the mid-1950s one man at its helm from inception to the ed the company. And Bob Hollis lives life with a passionate none met his needs. He designed equip- present day—of course with some help of Bob Hollis is a throwback to another era; wild abandon that belies reaching his mid- ment for divers and tested it on himself. his sons in recent years. That’s truly unique. his peers have long since retired or passed 1970s and still not missing a step. The company known as Oceanic is aptly Oceanic… and Hollis… two entities that away. There are none of the original manu- When I met him back in the early 1970s, named: it is the result of one man’s love of long ago merged into one like some experi- facturing founders left running diving he was barely dry from saturation diving the sea. The company and the man. They ment crafted in a lab by a gifted mad scien- companies except him. Oceanic has con- on the Andrea Doria, the most challenging are inseparable and forever joined by a tist with an entrepreneurial gene of his tinued to set new marks for cutting edge exploration of the wreck ever attempted. common DNA. Many companies have own. It’s impossible to have a dialogue products. It might have something to do 204 ROBERT “BOB” HOLLIS DIVE ADVENTURES 205 and the first saturation dive on the wreck of the “Andrea Doria” 1973 1973 THE END. “As we circled, I could see the But after that initial dive, conditions were considered to accommodate three saturation divers, a gas mixing panel stack gradually sink below the surface. be so dangerous due to currents, depths, cold water, and and canisters for removing the CO2 gas in their breathing As the air from the cabins rose to the poor visibility that the wreck remained largely undived for loop. A hatch on the bottom of the chamber provided an surface, the water foamed. Debris and emp- the next 17 years. entry and exit to the ocean. The hatch could be closed and ty lifeboats were scattered everywhere. Bob Hollis had already made a name for himself as both sealed during descents and ascents and sleeping periods. In nine minutes, it was all over.” Harry Trask, an innovative diving manufacturer and photographer with On the morning of July 25, 1973, seven divers pulled the airsick news photographer, took an established interest in exploration in exotic diving areas. “Mother” alongside the topside buoy. Fighting a one-knot 16 pictures. One shows the Andrea Doria, propeller aloft, just before she sinks to her In the spring of 1973 he got a phone call that intrigued him. current, they finally managed to get the down-wire cable final resting place in 70 meters of water. “Some friends of mine, Don Rodocker and Chris DeLucchi, into the guide system. This was to be one of the most physi- ex-Navy divers, wanted to make a try to salvage the cally demanding dives ever made: seven divers on scuba gear The Andrea Doria enters New York harbor in first-class purser’s safe and other valuables aboard the lowering 21,000 pounds of steel onto the side of the Andrea 1955 prior to her sinking in 1956. Andrea Doria. They wanted to design and build a portable Doria, 170 feet below. Hollis thought at the time, “I’m away saturation complex, often called a habitat. The objective was from my new business, in the North Atlantic, 43 degrees to tow it 50 miles northeast of New York to the wreck site water temperature, and we’re going to swim down an entire and anchor a support vessel to the Doria. Then lower the sat saturation diving system and tie it off on the Doria. This has chamber, secure it to the side of the wreck, swim down, and to be one of the most hazardous dives ever attempted. About live inside. From saturation, they could then make dives, use then, I figured I was just a little bit nuts.” cutting torches to create a hole in the port side, find the safe, But the team managed to get the habitat hooked in and and remove it. They wanted me to invest in the deal, have the Rodocker and DeLucchi then took up residence at 170 feet contract for the film documentary, and help in the construc- to begin work. tion of the complex. I bit… hook, line and sinker.” The breathing gas inside of “Mother” was a mixture of To say that the expedition was ambitious and with very 92 percent helium and eight percent oxygen, varying with long odds of success was an understatement, but Hollis depth. The chamber was contained in a large frame with stepped up with financing and became a part of the diving 40 large storage cylinders of gas: 8,000 cubic feet of helium, team. The system was built in San Diego and transported 1,200 cubic feet of oxygen and 4,000 cubic feet of heliox. all the way across the US and loaded aboard the 65-foot Under the chamber were a cage for in-water storage of div- expedition vessel Narragansett.