Andrea Doria 15 - Divers 0
August 2, 2008 by Scuba Herald
We don’t want to be Ironic, but it seems that us, divers, we believe that we can simply dive any wreck in the world.. and sometimes we may forget that some wrecks may be, are not suppose to be dives. Well, today another diver died in the Andrea Doria.
This time, is was Houston man has become the 15th diver to die exploring the wreck of the ocean liner Andrea Doria since its sinking July 25, 1956, in the Atlantic Ocean south of Nantucket, Mass.
Terry DeWolf, 38, who was visiting the wreck on the New Jersey dive boat John Jack, temporarily based in Montauk Harbor, failed to surface as expected at 11 a.m. Wednesday, the Coast Guard and East Hampton police reported.
The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of death.
“He was overdue and found on the bottom near the wreck by crew members and other divers from the John Jack,” said East Hampton Det. Sgt. Chris Anderson. “He had extensive dive certifications and was quite experienced.”
Anderson said DeWolf died on his second dive of the trip. The 38-foot John Jack left Montauk on Monday and was scheduled to return today. Instead, it arrived at 8:30 a.m. yesterday to return the body.
John Jack owner Joseph Terzuoli of Wall, N.J., could not be reached for comment.
Typically, Northeast dive boats bring their customers to the site, where the divers are responsible for all aspects of the dive.
The Coast Guard received a distress call around noon from the John Jack and dispatched two Jayhawk helicopters and the cutter Hammerhead from Cape Cod, spokeswoman Connie Terrell said.
The deteriorating Italian liner, which lies on its side in 235 to 255 feet of water 40 miles south of Nantucket after colliding in fog with the Swedish liner Stockholm, is considered the Mount Everest for advanced shipwreck divers, who breathe a mixture of gases to cope with the depth while searching for china and other artifacts.
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