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The keel of the Andrea Doria (No. 918) was laid down on the Number 1 slipway at Ansaldo's Sestri Ponente yards on February 9, 1950. Planned for launching on June 10, 1951, it was six days later when Italy's first postwar North Atlantic liner slid down the Ansaldo ways. Prior to the launching, the ship was blessed by His Eminence Cardinal Siri, Archbishop of Genoa, and christened by Signora Giuseppina Saragat, wife of the former Minister of the Italian Merchant Marine. By June 23, she was in the fitting-out basin and expected to be ready "by next summer." However, decorating the interior of this ship consumed another eighteen months, and it was not until November 6, 1952, that the Andrea Doria left Sestri Ponente for her preliminary engine trials. Nine days later, amid reports of machinery problems, her maiden voyage was rescheduled from December 14, 1952, to January 14, 1953.
She had 16 lifeboats onboard, with a capacity of over 2,000 people. Two of the boats had motors and radios.
On july 17th, 1956, she left Italy on her 101st crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. It would be her last..
On June 16th, 1951, the Andrea Doria was launched at the Ansaldo shipyard in Italy. She cost 29 million dollars, and had very advanced safety features. She had watertight compartments, a double bottom, and a double hull. As were the Titanic and Lusitania, she was labeled by some as unsinkable
