Shipwreck survivor looks back at the wreck of the Andrea Doria

NOVI, Mich. (WXYZ) - Pierette Simpson has been stunned ever since she looked at images of the Costa Concordia listing on its starboard side in the water of the Mediterranean Sea.

“I thought how could this be?  This is 56-years-later,” says Simpson.

Simpson's life-changing events took place on July 25, 1956.  She was just 8-years-old and was traveling to America for the first time.

Simpson was on board the Andrea Doria, a luxury cruise liner that was carrying passengers from Italy.

Simpson was escorted by her grandparents who were going to reunite with her mother.

On the ninth day of the ten-day trip, the ship was hit by The Stockholm, a smaller cruise liner on its way to Sweden.

The crash happened near Nantucket Island.

 “We were hit.  We were slammed, broadsided, at full speed by the ship half our size by The Stockholm,” says Simpson, “There was water running through the corridor immediately.”

According to Simpson, forty three people on the Andrea Doria died right away.  Three others died later and five people on the Stockholm were also killed.

Simpson remembers being caught on the shipwreck for at least four hours. During that time, Simpson and her grandparents continued to pray. 

Eventually rescue boats were brought in and Simpson and her grandparents were brought to safety.

For years they were traumatized by the events that unfolded that day.

She documented her experience and has collected memorabilia from that tragic day. 

While the story of the two ships sounds similar, the men in charge of them have very different endings.

The captain of the Costa Concordia could face homicide charges for allegedly jumping ship before some passengers were saved.

The captain of the Andrea Doria had to be persuaded to leave his cruise liner.  “He was prepared to die with the ship,” says Simpson.

According to Simpson, the captain had been blamed for the crash that foggy night. Simpson says he never sailed again.

It took decades for scientists to prove it was the crew of the Stockholm that was truly at fault.

Simpson plans to release her new book April 5th at the International Marine Forensics Symposium in Washington D.C.  It’s a historical fiction story that follows the lives of passengers on the ship.

She hopes her new book inspires young people to chose maritime careers.