A trace of the unsolved mystery seems to follow all ship sinkings through history. This interest is especially keen in the case of the collision between Stockholm and Andrea Doria, two passenger liners that collided at the edge of the fogbank in 1956, even though both were equipped with radar and officers on both ships were aware of the presence of the other. Stockholm was badly damaged but able to return to New York under its own power. Andrea Doria sank soon after the collision.
The preliminary hearing held after the tragedy raised as many questions as it answered, as the two companies who owned the ships chose to settle out of court before all the testimony had been given. With no documented resolution, some of those questions remain to this day, but this book provides information and insights not previously available in English.
Out of the Fog describes the events leading up to the collision from the perspective of both ships. The collision itself is covered, as is the heroic and largely successful rescue effort that followed. The book contains testimony given at the hearing, and an appendix provides a legal opinion from an attorney who was directly involved with the case.
Algot Mattsson was the information officer for Swedish America Line, the owner of Stockholm, and had special access to Johan-Ernst Carstens-Johannsen, the sole officer on the bridge at the time of the collision. Gordon W. Paulsen was one of the lawyers representing Swedish America Line at the time of the collision.