The first thing that strikes me about this book is the unintended irony of the title. Out of the Fog delivers up a smokescreen of information that completely obliterates a balanced look at the events surrounding the collision between the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria and the Swedish passenger ship, the Stockholm.

How unbalanced? Well, according to this book, the Stockholm was completely innocent in the event, the fault lies completely with the officers on the Andrea Doria. Even better is the accusation that it was the Andrea Doria that hit the Stockholm! This is legal maneuvering at its best. It’s sort of like my punching you in the face and then accusing your face of hitting my fist. A case can be made that it was primarily either the Doria’s fault or the Stockholm’s that the collision occurred, but no matter whose fault it was, it was most certainly the Stockholm that hit the Doria. Stockholm drove a hole a third of the way through the center of the other ship. Stockholm was definitely doing the hitting by any sensible definition of the word.

Other issues that are glossed over are the many duties requiring Carstens’ attention as sole officer on the bridge of the Stockholm. He could not give his full attention to the navigation of the ship. Also, the helmsman’s habit of paying more attention to his surroundings than his compass is mentioned in passing, but the possible ramifications of his inattention are completely ignored.

The reason this book is so skewed is that the author was at one time the information officer for the Swedish-American line, the owners of the Stockholm. It is also the reason why this book should not be overlooked, even if it is so one-sided. Mattsson had the opportunity of having extended discussions with Johan-Ernst Carstens-Johannsen, the sole officer on the bridge of the Stockholm at the time of the collision. Carstens’ views of the event, told in his own words, are extensively quoted throughout this book. It is an invaluable insight into the event from the Stockholm’s point of view.

Another strength of this book is the amount of fresh material it brings to the reader. This is not another rehash of the tragedy and how it affected the lives of the people who lived and died. There is very little concerning this element of the story, which has been so completely covered in other books. Out of the Fog instead concentrates on a history of the two ships, the background of the two shipping companies involved, the events leading to the crash, the aftermath, and the legal wrangling that followed.

For instance, this was the first time I remember reading that Stockholm requested Ile de France escort her back to America as there was serious concern about the ability of the now overloaded Stockholm being able to make it to port. The French ship refused this request! siting a need to get back on schedule. Stockholm was left on her own, except for two small Coast Guard cutters. If the damaged ship had gotten into trouble, there is no way these two cutters could have saved all the people on Stockholm.

There is lots more, including a great deal of the behind the scenes maneuvering by both companies which ended up in the out of court settlement of the trial. A lot of this is completely new material, not available to the public before.

In summation, this is an important, if one-sided, new book on this incredible maritime disaster. Originally published in 1986 in Swedish, this book has just been released in an English edition in 2003. It is a must read for anyone interested in this event, but a familiarity with the whole story is strongly recommended. Now if only someone from the Italian side would write a similar book from their point of view.