Kennett Square resident Eric Zandotti helped restore the foghorn of the SS Andrea Doria, the passenger ship that sank in 1956 off the coast of Nantucket.

Zandotti was one of several guests — shipwreck survivors, historians, and divers — when it sounded again at the 65th anniversary of the ship’s collision and foundering. The New Jersey Maritime Museum hosted the memorial on July 25, according to a report from the Daily Local News.

As part of the restoration process, the local artisan built a shortened steel mast-base where the foghorn was mounted.

The Andrea Doria was the flagship of the Italia Line. She provided luxury transportation between the U.S. and Europe. The 700-foot-long ocean liner was built in Genoa and was considered the most beautiful ship of its time. Some referred to it as a “floating art gallery,” with paintings, tapestries, and surrealist murals by some of Italy’s most prominent artists.

On July 26, 1956, the Andrea Doria collided with the MS Stockholm in dense fog and sank the next day. Out of the 1,706 people on board both vessels, 51 lost their lives.

Over the years, salvage efforts reclaimed many historically important artifacts, including one of two of the ship’s foghorns in 2017.

Read more about the Andrea Doria and Eric Zandotti’s connection to it in the Daily Local News.