揭秘泰坦尼克號沉沒真相

今年是泰坦尼克號沉沒一百周年。在這一百年的時間里，人們從未停止過對它的熱烈討論，也從未停止過對它沉沒真相的探尋：泰坦尼克號是當時技術(shù)最先進的客輪嗎？泰坦尼克號的沉沒與其設計、建造以及航行速度有多大關(guān)系？從災難中幸存的白星航運公司主席伊斯梅真如大家所言是個只顧自己逃命的懦夫嗎？被世人崇敬和緬懷的史密斯船長真的是個恪盡職守的英雄嗎？看看本文，也許你能找到問題的答案。

As soon as the waves of the North Atlantic closed over1) the stern2) of RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912， the myths began surrounding her design， construction and transatlantic voyage. The Titanic disaster today is a classic tale， a modern folk story， but like all folk stories our understanding of what really happened has been clouded by the way the disaster has been recounted over the years.

1912年4月15日，皇家郵輪泰坦尼克號的船尾沉沒在北大西洋的波濤里，之后不久，圍繞這艘巨輪的設計、建造和橫跨大西洋航行的種種訛傳就開始了。今天，泰坦尼克號的災難已成為經(jīng)典的傳說和當代民間故事。不過，像所有的民間故事那樣，多年來有關(guān)這場災難的不同講述方式為我們了解事實真相增加了難度。

“Practically Unsinkable”

“幾乎不可能沉沒”

It was said that the builders and owners of Titanic claimed she was “unsinkable.” The claim actually made was that she was “practically unsinkable，” close enough， but nevertheless an unfortunate statement and one which would haunt both builder and owner for years.

Titanic， the largest vessel in the world when she entered service in 1912， was neither the finest nor the most technically advanced of her day. Size， seldom an indication that something is better， was the only record she held. The ships that Titanic， and her slightly older sister Olympic， were designed to compete with were the Cunard3) liners Lusitania and Mauretania， which entered service in 1907. Designed and built as record breakers， both held the coveted “Blue Riband4)” for the fastest Atlantic crossing. They were built principally from lessons learnt from advances in warship construction， but most importantly both were powered by steam turbines5) driving quadruple screws6)， each fitted with a large balanced rudder7)， making them faster than the competition and easier to manoeuvre8). This was a giant leap forward in marine engineering， comparable to the advances made in 1969 with the introduction of the Concorde supersonic aircraft9).

Titanic and Olympic should best be described as the 747s10) of their day. As huge people carriers， travelling at moderate speed， with space for large cargoes， they posed a great commercial threat to the smaller and more expensive-to-operate Cunarders.

據(jù)說，泰坦尼克號的建造者和所有者都宣稱這艘巨輪“不可能沉沒”。但事實上，他們宣稱的是這艘船“幾乎不可能沉沒”。這兩種說法非常接近卻不相同。但無論如何，這是個不吉利的聲明，它讓泰坦尼克號的建造者和所有者為之困窘了很多年。

泰坦尼克號于1912年投入使用，是當時世界上最大的輪船，但卻不是最奢華和技術(shù)最先進的。泰坦尼克號唯一保有的最高紀錄是船體的尺寸，但這幾乎不是表明某物更好的一個指標。泰坦尼克號與稍早一點推出的姐妹艦奧林匹克號被設計出來，是為了與卡納德航運公司1907年投入使用的盧西塔尼亞號和毛里塔尼亞號競爭。卡納德航運公司的這兩艘輪船在設計和建造方面都打破了紀錄，兩者皆因橫跨大西洋的航行速度最快而獲得了令人向往的“藍飄帶獎”。它們的建造主要借鑒了戰(zhàn)船的先進打造經(jīng)驗，不過最關(guān)鍵的一點是，這兩艘船均由蒸汽輪機驅(qū)動四個螺旋槳來提供動力，每艘船上還安有大型平衡舵，這使得它們比競爭對手速度更快，也更容易操控。這是船舶工程的一個巨大飛躍，可以與1969年協(xié)和號超音速客機問世時所創(chuàng)造的技術(shù)進步相媲美。

將泰坦尼克號和奧林匹克號比作那個時代的波音747客機，是再恰當不過了。這兩艘輪船載客量巨大，航速中等，具有運載大型貨物的充足空間，對卡納德公司那些體積更小、運營費用更貴的輪船構(gòu)成了商業(yè)上的巨大威脅。

Achilles Heel11) 致命的弱點

Building ships this large led to inevitable compromises. Titanic， identical in almost every respect to her sister， adopted tried and trusted methods for her design and construction. No risks were taken with the choice of engines which were enlarged versions of the propulsion12) system first used experimentally in Laurentic13)， another White Star liner， in 1909. The triple screw vessel had proved that two expansion engines14) feeding exhaust steam into a low pressure turbine were more economical than vessels using expansion engines or turbines alone.

Titanic’s hull15) and upper works were also enlarged versions of designs refined over several decades. Her stern， with its high graceful counter and long thin rudder， was an exact copy of an 18th-century sailing ship， wrought in steel， a perfect example of the lack of technical development. Compared with the rudder design of the Cunarders， Titanic’s was a fraction of the size. No account was made for advances in scale and little thought was given to how a ship， 852 feet in length， might turn in an emergency or avoid collision with an iceberg. This was Titanic’s Achilles heel.

建造這樣巨大的輪船，不可避免地要在某些方面作出妥協(xié)。泰坦尼克號幾乎在各個方面都與它的姐妹艦一樣，采用的是歷經(jīng)考驗、值得信賴的設計和建造方法。泰坦尼克號在引擎的選擇上并沒有冒風險，采用的是勞倫鐵克號的動力系統(tǒng)，只是尺寸和規(guī)模更大。勞倫鐵克號是白星航運公司的另一艘輪船，于1909年首次試用該動力系統(tǒng)。裝有三螺旋槳的勞倫鐵克號證明，使用兩臺往復式蒸汽機向一臺低壓渦輪機輸入蒸汽，比單獨使用往復式蒸汽機或渦輪機更節(jié)省能源。

泰坦尼克號的船體和水上部分采用的也是經(jīng)過數(shù)十年改進和完善的設計方案，只是放大了尺寸和規(guī)模。船尾、船尾高大優(yōu)雅的外傾艉端以及細長的船舵完全復制的是18世紀帆船的設計方案，全部用鋼材制成，這是泰坦尼克號缺乏技術(shù)進步的最佳例證。與卡納德公司輪船的船舵設計相比，泰坦尼克號的船舵尺寸太小。泰坦尼克號沒有在尺寸比例上做出改進，也幾乎沒有考慮一艘長達852英尺(約259.7米)的巨輪在緊急情況下該如何調(diào)轉(zhuǎn)方向或如何避免與冰山相撞。這是泰坦尼克號的致命弱點。

Speed 航行速度

These design differences meant Titanic would never be able to challenge the speed or manoeuvrability of the Cunarders， but this did not matter. White Star had given up all thought of speed records more than a decade before， in 1899， with the introduction of Oceanic16)， a ship given the title “Crowning Glory of the 19th Century.” It was justly deserved， for her interiors17) were the finest ever created by the Belfast shipbuilder of Harland Wolff.

Speed plays a major part in the continuing story of Titanic. It is often said she was trying to make a record on her maiden voyage， attempting to arrive ahead of schedule in New York. Not true. Not all of Titanic’s boilers18) had been lit and besides this she was sailing on the longer southern route across the Atlantic in order to avoid the very threat which caused her eventual loss. Even if all boilers had been lit， her maximum speed was 21 knots19)， a far cry from20) the 26 knots the Cunarders regularly recorded. Titanic did not attempt a full speed crossing because of the risk of potential engine damage， and her passengers would have been inconvenienced by arriving a day before their hotel or train bookings.

這些設計差異意味著泰坦尼克號在速度和易操作性方面永遠都無法與卡納德公司的輪船相抗衡。但是這一點并不重要。早在距此十多年前的1899年，白星航運公司推出皇家海洋號開始，該公司就完全放棄了刷新速度紀錄的想法。皇家海洋號享有“19世紀至高榮耀”的美譽。之所以能當之無愧地享受這一美譽，是因為它的內(nèi)部裝潢是位于貝爾法斯特的哈蘭德與沃爾夫造船廠有史以來打造得最為精美的。

在泰坦尼克號經(jīng)久不衰的故事里，關(guān)于航行速度的討論占據(jù)主要部分。人們經(jīng)常說，泰坦尼克號計劃在首航中創(chuàng)造紀錄，試圖在預定時間之前抵達紐約。但事實并非如此。泰坦尼克號并沒有點燃所有的鍋爐，此外，這艘船在橫渡大西洋時選擇的是更長的南側(cè)航線，為的就是避免導致泰坦尼克號最終沉沒的那種危險。即使所有的鍋爐都點燃，泰坦尼克號的最高時速也只能達到21節(jié)，遠遠低于卡納德公司輪船的常規(guī)時速記錄——26節(jié)。泰坦尼克號并沒有嘗試全速前進，因為這有造成發(fā)動機損壞的風險。而且，提前一天到達紐約，也會給已經(jīng)預訂酒店或火車票的乘客帶來不便。

Allegations21) of Cowardice 對懦夫的指控

Joseph Bruce Ismay， chairman and managing director of the White Star Line， was a passenger on the ship. At the age of 39 he was also president of the International Mercantile Marine Company， a giant combine and owner-operator of several transatlantic business， at the head of which was White Star. The myths surrounding Ismay are many but almost all centre on allegations of his cowardice in escaping the sinking ship whilst fellow passengers， notably women and children， were left to fend for themselves22). The claims made at the time and repeated today were that he “saved his own skin23)” whilst others died.

In reality Ismay helped with loading and lowering several lifeboats and acquitted himself24) better than many of the crew and passengers. He only entered a lifeboat when it was actually being lowered and no other passengers were in the vicinity25). Some witnesses stated he was ordered into the lifeboat but， whatever happened， Lord Mersey said at the British enquiry into the loss of Titanic， “Had he not jumped in he would simply have added one more life， namely his own， to the number of those lost.”

Ismay’s fault was that he survived and as a consequence laid himself open to26) the high and somewhat dubious moral code of the US press. Almost universally condemned in America， when he finally arrived home he was cheered and applauded as he descended the gangway at Liverpool. The British press had treated the whole episode in a far less judgmental way.

In a second， more serious allegation， it was claimed he ordered Captain Edward J Smith， Titanic’s commander， to “make a record crossing” thus indirectly causing the collision with the iceberg. It is unlikely that an experienced shipmaster like Smith， on his last voyage before retirement and the highest paid commander in the mercantile27) marine， would defer to Ismay on matters of navigation. No firm evidence has ever come to light to suggest that Ismay in any way interfered with the navigation of Titanic and， other than talking with the various heads of departments on the ship， conducted himself like many other passengers. Yet the opposite image of him exists today.

白星航運公司的主席兼常務董事約瑟夫·布魯斯·伊斯梅當時也在泰坦尼克號上。時年39歲的伊斯梅還是國際商業(yè)海運公司的總裁。這是一家大型聯(lián)合企業(yè)，擁有并運營著多個從事橫跨大西洋業(yè)務的航運公司，其中排名第一的就是白星航運公司。有關(guān)伊斯梅的謠傳有很多，但幾乎都集中在對他怯懦行為的指控上，說他在輪船行將沉沒時只管自己逃命，而對當時船上同行的其他乘客——尤其是婦女和兒童——則棄之不顧，任其自謀生路。那時對他作出的斷言是，他“只顧保全自己的性命”，不顧他人喪命。這一斷言至今仍在流傳。

但事實上，伊斯梅協(xié)助裝載和放下了幾艘救生艇，他表現(xiàn)得比許多船員和乘客都要好。他只是在一艘救生艇已經(jīng)被放下而且附近沒有其他乘客時才坐了進去。一些目擊者說他是被命令坐進救生艇的。但無論事實真相如何，摩西勛爵在英國對泰坦尼克號傷亡調(diào)查中表示：“如果他沒有跳進救生艇，也只是增加了一個死亡數(shù)字而已，那就是他自己。”

伊斯梅錯就錯在他活下來了，結(jié)果就讓自己成了美國媒體標榜的崇高但事實上有些可疑的道德準則抨擊的對象。盡管在美國遭受的幾乎全是譴責，但當他最終回到英國，在利物浦走下舷梯時，迎接他的是熱烈的歡呼和掌聲。英國媒體對整個事件采取的批判性態(tài)度要少得多。

此外，對伊斯梅還有一項更為嚴重的指控：據(jù)稱，伊斯梅曾下令讓泰坦尼克號的總指揮愛德華·史密斯船長“創(chuàng)造橫跨大西洋的航行紀錄”，由此間接導致泰坦尼克號與冰山相撞。但事實上，作為一名經(jīng)驗豐富的船長以及商船業(yè)內(nèi)薪酬最高的指揮官，史密斯在自己退休前進行的最后一次航行中，不可能在航海問題上屈從于伊斯梅的命令。從來沒有確鑿的證據(jù)表明，伊斯梅曾以任何一種方式干涉過泰坦尼克號的航行。除了與船上各部門的一些負責人交談外，他在行為舉止上與其他許多乘客沒什么兩樣。然而，他的負面形象直至今天依然存在。

Captain Smith 史密斯船長

The popular press expected men to die like heroes in 1912. After all Captain Smith had done just that， or had he? In a strange quirk28) of history the man directly responsible for the loss of Titanic is remembered as a hero， whilst the man who tried to save lives is labelled a coward.

Smith failed the passengers and crew of Titanic. He failed to heed ice warnings， did not slow his ship when ice was reported directly in his path and allowed lifeboats to leave the sinking ship partially filled， unnecessarily adding at least 500 names to the list of the dead.

But what organisation or individual was ultimately to blame? The British government’s Board of Trade allowed Titanic to sail with insufficient lifeboat accommodation. The government simply had not kept abreast of29) advances in marine engineering and based all life-saving regulations on ships up to 10，000 grt (gross registered tons) which were required to carry 16 lifeboats. Titanic was 46，329 grt. A ship designed to accommodate 3，511 passengers and crew was only required to provide lifeboat accommodation for 962. In fact， White Star provided her with four extra collapsible30) boats， increasing capacity to 1，178.

If Smith had not failed in his duty， all these lifeboats could have been loaded to their stated capacity in time， or even with many more， for the numbers reflected shipyard workers， not women and children. In the flat calm conditions that night， the first boat to leave Titanic’s side， with a capacity of 40， contained just 12 people.

Titanic， famous for that terrible disaster， today stands as a memorial to mankind’s over-confidence in technology and a reminder of how weak we are compared with the forces of nature.

大眾媒體都認為男人們應該像1912年的英雄們那樣死得其所。畢竟，史密斯船長就做到了這一點。但他真的做到了嗎？歷史總是奇怪而又具有諷刺意味的：這位對泰坦尼克號沉沒負有直接責任的人被當成英雄來銘記，而那位盡力拯救生命的人卻被貼上了懦夫的標簽。

史密斯船長辜負了泰坦尼克號的乘客和船員。他沒有理會冰山警報；當收到輪船航線正前方有冰山的報告時，他沒有讓輪船減速；在救生艇還沒坐滿乘客時，他就允許它們離開正在沉沒的輪船，使得死難者名單上至少無端地增加了五百個名字。

但說到底，哪些組織和個人最該為此受到譴責呢？英國政府貿(mào)易委員會在泰坦尼克號未備足救生艇的情況下就允許其出海航行。英國政府根本不了解船舶工程的最新發(fā)展情況，在制定所有與救生艇有關(guān)的規(guī)定時，是按照登記噸位最高一萬噸的輪船的標準定的，這樣的輪船只要求配備16艘救生艇。而泰坦尼克號的登記噸位為46，329噸，其設計的容納人數(shù)為3511名乘客和船員，但要求配備的救生艇卻只能容納962人。實際上，白星航運公司還為泰坦尼克號額外增加了四艘折疊救生艇，使得救生艇的容納人數(shù)增加到了1178人。

如果當時史密斯能夠履行自己職責的話，那所有的救生艇是能夠及時按照其標示的最大容量載滿人的，甚至能載更多的人，因為救生艇標示的容量反映的是能容納多少船廠工人，而非婦女和兒童。事故當晚風平浪靜，泰坦尼克號側(cè)舷放下的第一艘救生艇的容量是40人，但卻只載了12人。

泰坦尼克號因那場可怕的災難而聞名于世。今天的它就像一座紀念碑，讓我們謹記人類過度相信技術(shù)的教訓；也提醒著我們，人類與大自然的力量相比是多么脆弱。

1.close over：淹沒

2.stern [st#604;#720;(r)n] n. 船尾

3.Cunard：卡納德航運公司，是由英國航運巨頭塞繆爾·卡納德(Samuel Cunard)創(chuàng)立的航運公司，北大西洋客運服務的領(lǐng)頭羊之一，是白星航運公司的主要競爭對手之一。在19世紀70年代，該公司的發(fā)展逐漸落后于白星公司，為此該公司在英國政府的支持下研制出了后文提到的盧西塔尼亞號(Lusitania)和毛里塔尼亞號(Mauretania)郵船。

4.Blue Riband：藍飄帶獎，橫渡大西洋客船的速度獎，是一個民間性質(zhì)的獎項，頒發(fā)給橫渡大西洋速度最快的郵船的一項榮譽稱號。

5.steam turbine：蒸汽輪機，由一系列帶有螺旋槳式槳葉的轉(zhuǎn)盤組成。這樣的蒸汽機比往復式蒸汽機要平穩(wěn)。

6.quadruple screw：四螺旋槳

7.balanced rudder：平衡舵

8.manoeuvre [m#601;#712;nu#720;v#601;(r)] vt. 操縱

9.Concorde supersonic aircraft：協(xié)和式超音速飛機，由英國和法國聯(lián)合研制，于1969年研制成功，并于1976年投入商業(yè)飛行，用于運營跨越大西洋的航線。該飛機設計采用了諸多新技術(shù)，對民航飛機的發(fā)展作出了很大的貢獻。

10.747s：波音747，是一種雙層客艙飛機，由美國波音民用飛機集團制造，1970年投入使用。波音747原型大小是1960年代被廣泛使用的波音707的兩倍，投入服務后保持了全世界載客量最高飛機的紀錄長達37年。

11.Achilles heel：要害，弱點。據(jù)稱，希臘神話中的阿喀琉斯(Achilles)除腳后跟外，其他部位刀槍不入，故人類用Achilles heel喻指“致命的弱點”。

12.propulsion [pr#601;#712;p#652;l#643;(#601;)n] n. 動力

13.Laurentic：勞倫鐵克號，由白星公司于1909年從“自治領(lǐng)海運公司”購買的三螺旋槳郵船，主要目的是用于做對比試驗，想證明三個螺旋槳可以給郵船帶來速度上的優(yōu)勢，從而將此用于泰坦尼克號和奧林匹克號的建造中。

14.expansion engine：往復式蒸汽機

15.hull [h#652;l] n. 船體

16.Oceanic：皇家海洋號，是白星航運公司運營的橫渡大西洋的郵船，由位于貝爾法斯特的哈蘭德與沃爾夫造船廠建造，于1899年開始投入使用。

17.interior [#618;n#712;t#618;#601;ri#601;(r)] n. 室內(nèi)布景

18.boiler [#712;b#596;#618;l#601;(r)] n. 鍋爐

19.knot [n#594;t] n. 節(jié)，速度單位，等于每小時1海里(約1.85公里)。

20.a far cry from：遠不如……的

21.allegation [#716;aelig;l#601;#712;ɡe#618;#643;(#601;)n] n. (尤指無證據(jù)或有待證實的)指控，陳述，說法

22.fend for oneself：照料自己，獨自生活

23.save one’s own skin：逃脫危險，免遭傷害

24.acquit oneself：使自己作出某種表現(xiàn)；使自己履行(或完成)

25.in the vicinity：在附近

26.lay oneself open to：使自己易遭攻擊(指責等)

27.mercantile [#712;m#604;#720;(r)k#601;nta#618;l] adj. 商業(yè)的，與商業(yè)有關(guān)的

28.quirk [kw#604;#720;(r)k] n. 諷刺，嘲弄

29.keep abreast of：了解……的最新進展情況

30.collapsible [k#601;#712;laelig;ps#601;b(#601;)l] adj. 可折疊成緊湊形狀的，可套縮的