Andrea Doria survivors mark anniversary in NYC with exhibit

Survivors of the disastrous 1956 Andrea Doria sinking honored the anniversary of the crash Friday at a tear-jerking new Manhattan museum exhibit that features dozens of treasured items recovered from the ship.

Four survivors of the tragic ocean crash — including a young mother traveling alone with her baby at the time — gathered at The Italian American Museum in Little Italy, where the exhibit was unveiled for the 69th anniversary of the wreck.

“I personally remember the crash, this loud, loud noise, and people screaming, tables just being thrown against the walls, and people being thrown all over the floor, bleeding and yelling things like, ‘Oh, we must have hit an iceberg!’ ” said Pierette Dominica Simpson, who was sailing with her grandparents at age 9 when the ship sank.

“I was coming to a new family, a new life in America,” said Simpson, who is now a historian.

The doomed ship had left Genoa, Italy, and was bound for New York City on July 25, 1956, when it was broadsided by the passenger liner Stockholm in the dense fog off the coast of Nantucket, Mass.

The collision killed 46 people aboard the luxury transatlantic ocean liner, which was then Italy’s largest, fastest and purportedly safest ship.

Five others died aboard the Stockholm.

Rescuers saved 1,660 of the 1,706 passengers aboard the Andrea Doria, many of whom were children at the time.

Other survivors on hand at the Manhattan commemoration, who spanned in age from 69 to 92, said they were overwhelmed by mixed emotions ranging from gratitude to sadness over memories of the accident.

“I’m so happy to be here, so happy to be alive,” said survivor Sofia Sena, who was immigrating to the US at age 20 when the ships collided.

Delfina Cadoria, 92, was just 23 years old and traveling alone with her 6-month-old baby.

“It was about 10 p.m., I was on the deck with this woman and looking down at the water. It was so foggy. Suddenly, we hear this sharp cracking sound,” Cadoria said.

She had to climb down a rope dangling off the ship as a sailor held her infant — and they both miraculously made it to shore.

Simpson recalled being tied to a rope and lowered down to a lifeboat.

Her grandparents also made it to a rescue boat.

“I thought I was being dropped into the ocean because I couldn’t see,” Simpson said.

“I was screaming, of course, and separated from my grandparents under such crazy conditions.”

The new exhibit features dozens of artifacts from the ship, including items kept by passengers and recovered by divers.

They include the 140-pound brass auxiliary steering station bell, a deck chair and life preserver, along with fine china and works of art from the ship.

“This exhibit tells you everything about … the value of life, you know, trying to make a better life for ourselves by moving to, in the case of the immigrants on the ship, coming here,” said museum curator Janine Coyne.