Life Preserver from the Stockholm, the Ocean Liner Which Collided With the Andrea Doria.  On April 5, 1957, the Stockholm celebrated its one millionth passenger! This souvenir version of an actual life preserver was presented to Nells Benson, the milestone-setting passenger. It is inscribed and signed to him by the chief purser, Curt Dane, and dated by him. Various other fellow passengers also autographed the preserver at the time.

Only a few months later, on July 25, 1956, the ill-fated Stockholm would collide with the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria off Nantucket Island. While badly damaged, the Stockholm would survive the encounter. However the Andrea Doria sank in less than twelve hours, with a loss of forty-six lives, in one of the most notorious such accidents since the Titanic and Lusitania. Undoubtedly the loss of life would have been on a scale similar to that of those earlier disasters; however modern communications and technology made possible the rescue of the vast majority of the passengers and crew. This Stockholm artifact would make a great acquisition for any collector of ocean liner material.