揭秘泰坦尼克号沉没真相

今年是泰坦尼克号沉没一百周年。在这一百年的时间里，人们从未停止过对它的热烈讨论，也从未停止过对它沉没真相的探寻：泰坦尼克号是当时技术最先进的客轮吗？泰坦尼克号的沉没与其设计、建造以及航行速度有多大关系？从灾难中幸存的白星航运公司主席伊斯梅真如大家所言是个只顾自己逃命的懦夫吗？被世人崇敬和缅怀的史密斯船长真的是个恪尽职守的英雄吗？看看本文，也许你能找到问题的答案。

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，皇家邮轮泰坦尼克号的船尾沉没在北大西洋的波涛里，之后不久，围绕这艘巨轮的设计、建造和横跨大西洋航行的种种讹传就开始了。今天，泰坦尼克号的灾难已成为经典的传说和当代民间故事。不过，像所有的民间故事那样，多年来有关这场灾难的不同讲述方式为我们了解事实真相增加了难度。

“Practically Unsinkable”

“几乎不可能沉没”

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.

据说，泰坦尼克号的建造者和所有者都宣称这艘巨轮“不可能沉没”。但事实上，他们宣称的是这艘船“几乎不可能沉没”。这两种说法非常接近却不相同。但无论如何，这是个不吉利的声明，它让泰坦尼克号的建造者和所有者为之困窘了很多年。

泰坦尼克号于1912年投入使用，是当时世界上最大的轮船，但却不是最奢华和技术最先进的。泰坦尼克号唯一保有的最高纪录是船体的尺寸，但这几乎不是表明某物更好的一个指标。泰坦尼克号与稍早一点推出的姐妹舰奥林匹克号被设计出来，是为了与卡纳德航运公司1907年投入使用的卢西塔尼亚号和毛里塔尼亚号竞争。卡纳德航运公司的这两艘轮船在设计和建造方面都打破了纪录，两者皆因横跨大西洋的航行速度最快而获得了令人向往的“蓝飘带奖”。它们的建造主要借鉴了战船的先进打造经验，不过最关键的一点是，这两艘船均由蒸汽轮机驱动四个螺旋桨来提供动力，每艘船上还安有大型平衡舵，这使得它们比竞争对手速度更快，也更容易操控。这是船舶工程的一个巨大飞跃，可以与1969年协和号超音速客机问世时所创造的技术进步相媲美。

将泰坦尼克号和奥林匹克号比作那个时代的波音747客机，是再恰当不过了。这两艘轮船载客量巨大，航速中等，具有运载大型货物的充足空间，对卡纳德公司那些体积更小、运营费用更贵的轮船构成了商业上的巨大威胁。

Achilles Heel11)致命的弱点

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.

建造这样巨大的轮船，不可避免地要在某些方面作出妥协。泰坦尼克号几乎在各个方面都与它的姐妹舰一样，采用的是历经考验、值得信赖的设计和建造方法。泰坦尼克号在引擎的选择上并没有冒风险，采用的是劳伦铁克号的动力系统，只是尺寸和规模更大。劳伦铁克号是白星航运公司的另一艘轮船，于1909年首次试用该动力系统。装有三螺旋桨的劳伦铁克号证明，使用两台往复式蒸汽机向一台低压涡轮机输入蒸汽，比单独使用往复式蒸汽机或涡轮机更节省能源。

泰坦尼克号的船体和水上部分采用的也是经过数十年改进和完善的设计方案，只是放大了尺寸和规模。船尾、船尾高大优雅的外倾艉端以及细长的船舵完全复制的是18世纪帆船的设计方案，全部用钢材制成，这是泰坦尼克号缺乏技术进步的最佳例证。与卡纳德公司轮船的船舵设计相比，泰坦尼克号的船舵尺寸太小。泰坦尼克号没有在尺寸比例上做出改进，也几乎没有考虑一艘长达852英尺(约259.7米)的巨轮在紧急情况下该如何调转方向或如何避免与冰山相撞。这是泰坦尼克号的致命弱点。

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.

这些设计差异意味着泰坦尼克号在速度和易操作性方面永远都无法与卡纳德公司的轮船相抗衡。但是这一点并不重要。早在距此十多年前的1899年，白星航运公司推出皇家海洋号开始，该公司就完全放弃了刷新速度纪录的想法。皇家海洋号享有“19世纪至高荣耀”的美誉。之所以能当之无愧地享受这一美誉，是因为它的内部装潢是位于贝尔法斯特的哈兰德与沃尔夫造船厂有史以来打造得最为精美的。

在泰坦尼克号经久不衰的故事里，关于航行速度的讨论占据主要部分。人们经常说，泰坦尼克号计划在首航中创造纪录，试图在预定时间之前抵达纽约。但事实并非如此。泰坦尼克号并没有点燃所有的锅炉，此外，这艘船在横渡大西洋时选择的是更长的南侧航线，为的就是避免导致泰坦尼克号最终沉没的那种危险。即使所有的锅炉都点燃，泰坦尼克号的最高时速也只能达到21节，远远低于卡纳德公司轮船的常规时速记录——26节。泰坦尼克号并没有尝试全速前进，因为这有造成发动机损坏的风险。而且，提前一天到达纽约，也会给已经预订酒店或火车票的乘客带来不便。

Allegations21) of Cowardice 对懦夫的指控

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.

白星航运公司的主席兼常务董事约瑟夫·布鲁斯·伊斯梅当时也在泰坦尼克号上。时年39岁的伊斯梅还是国际商业海运公司的总裁。这是一家大型联合企业，拥有并运营着多个从事横跨大西洋业务的航运公司，其中排名第一的就是白星航运公司。有关伊斯梅的谣传有很多，但几乎都集中在对他怯懦行为的指控上，说他在轮船行将沉没时只管自己逃命，而对当时船上同行的其他乘客——尤其是妇女和儿童——则弃之不顾，任其自谋生路。那时对他作出的断言是，他“只顾保全自己的性命”，不顾他人丧命。这一断言至今仍在流传。

但事实上，伊斯梅协助装载和放下了几艘救生艇，他表现得比许多船员和乘客都要好。他只是在一艘救生艇已经被放下而且附近没有其他乘客时才坐了进去。一些目击者说他是被命令坐进救生艇的。但无论事实真相如何，摩西勋爵在英国对泰坦尼克号伤亡调查中表示：“如果他没有跳进救生艇，也只是增加了一个死亡数字而已，那就是他自己。”

伊斯梅错就错在他活下来了，结果就让自己成了美国媒体标榜的崇高但事实上有些可疑的道德准则抨击的对象。尽管在美国遭受的几乎全是谴责，但当他最终回到英国，在利物浦走下舷梯时，迎接他的是热烈的欢呼和掌声。英国媒体对整个事件采取的批判性态度要少得多。

此外，对伊斯梅还有一项更为严重的指控：据称，伊斯梅曾下令让泰坦尼克号的总指挥爱德华·史密斯船长“创造横跨大西洋的航行纪录”，由此间接导致泰坦尼克号与冰山相撞。但事实上，作为一名经验丰富的船长以及商船业内薪酬最高的指挥官，史密斯在自己退休前进行的最后一次航行中，不可能在航海问题上屈从于伊斯梅的命令。从来没有确凿的证据表明，伊斯梅曾以任何一种方式干涉过泰坦尼克号的航行。除了与船上各部门的一些负责人交谈外，他在行为举止上与其他许多乘客没什么两样。然而，他的负面形象直至今天依然存在。

Captain Smith 史密斯船长

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.

大众媒体都认为男人们应该像1912年的英雄们那样死得其所。毕竟，史密斯船长就做到了这一点。但他真的做到了吗？历史总是奇怪而又具有讽刺意味的：这位对泰坦尼克号沉没负有直接责任的人被当成英雄来铭记，而那位尽力拯救生命的人却被贴上了懦夫的标签。

史密斯船长辜负了泰坦尼克号的乘客和船员。他没有理会冰山警报；当收到轮船航线正前方有冰山的报告时，他没有让轮船减速；在救生艇还没坐满乘客时，他就允许它们离开正在沉没的轮船，使得死难者名单上至少无端地增加了五百个名字。

但说到底，哪些组织和个人最该为此受到谴责呢？英国政府贸易委员会在泰坦尼克号未备足救生艇的情况下就允许其出海航行。英国政府根本不了解船舶工程的最新发展情况，在制定所有与救生艇有关的规定时，是按照登记吨位最高一万吨的轮船的标准定的，这样的轮船只要求配备16艘救生艇。而泰坦尼克号的登记吨位为46,329吨，其设计的容纳人数为3511名乘客和船员，但要求配备的救生艇却只能容纳962人。实际上，白星航运公司还为泰坦尼克号额外增加了四艘折叠救生艇，使得救生艇的容纳人数增加到了1178人。

如果当时史密斯能够履行自己职责的话，那所有的救生艇是能够及时按照其标示的最大容量载满人的，甚至能载更多的人，因为救生艇标示的容量反映的是能容纳多少船厂工人，而非妇女和儿童。事故当晚风平浪静，泰坦尼克号侧舷放下的第一艘救生艇的容量是40人，但却只载了12人。

泰坦尼克号因那场可怕的灾难而闻名于世。今天的它就像一座纪念碑，让我们谨记人类过度相信技术的教训；也提醒着我们，人类与大自然的力量相比是多么脆弱。

1.close over：淹没

2.stern [stɜː(r)n] n. 船尾

3.Cunard：卡纳德航运公司，是由英国航运巨头塞缪尔·卡纳德(Samuel Cunard)创立的航运公司，北大西洋客运服务的领头羊之一，是白星航运公司的主要竞争对手之一。在19世纪70年代，该公司的发展逐渐落后于白星公司，为此该公司在英国政府的支持下研制出了后文提到的卢西塔尼亚号(Lusitania)和毛里塔尼亚号(Mauretania)邮船。

4.Blue Riband：蓝飘带奖，横渡大西洋客船的速度奖，是一个民间性质的奖项，颁发给横渡大西洋速度最快的邮船的一项荣誉称号。

5.steam turbine：蒸汽轮机，由一系列带有螺旋桨式桨叶的转盘组成。这样的蒸汽机比往复式蒸汽机要平稳。

6.quadruple screw：四螺旋桨

7.balanced rudder：平衡舵

8.manoeuvre [məˈnuːvə(r)] vt. 操纵

9.Concorde supersonic aircraft：协和式超音速飞机，由英国和法国联合研制，于1969年研制成功，并于1976年投入商业飞行，用于运营跨越大西洋的航线。该飞机设计采用了诸多新技术，对民航飞机的发展作出了很大的贡献。

10.747s：波音747，是一种双层客舱飞机，由美国波音民用飞机集团制造，1970年投入使用。波音747原型大小是1960年代被广泛使用的波音707的两倍，投入服务后保持了全世界载客量最高飞机的纪录长达37年。

11.Achilles heel：要害，弱点。据称，希腊神话中的阿喀琉斯(Achilles)除脚后跟外，其他部位刀枪不入，故人类用Achilles heel喻指“致命的弱点”。

12.propulsion [prəˈpʌlʃ(ə)n] n. 动力

13.Laurentic：劳伦铁克号，由白星公司于1909年从“自治领海运公司”购买的三螺旋桨邮船，主要目的是用于做对比试验，想证明三个螺旋桨可以给邮船带来速度上的优势，从而将此用于泰坦尼克号和奥林匹克号的建造中。

14.expansion engine：往复式蒸汽机

15.hull [hʌl] n. 船体

16.Oceanic：皇家海洋号，是白星航运公司运营的横渡大西洋的邮船，由位于贝尔法斯特的哈兰德与沃尔夫造船厂建造，于1899年开始投入使用。

17.interior [ɪnˈtɪəriə(r)] n. 室内布景

18.boiler [ˈbɔɪlə(r)] n. 锅炉

19.knot [nɒt] n. 节，速度单位，等于每小时1海里(约1.85公里)。

20.a far cry from：远不如……的

21.allegation [ˌæləˈɡeɪʃ(ə)n] n. (尤指无证据或有待证实的)指控，陈述，说法

22.fend for oneself：照料自己，独自生活

23.save one’s own skin：逃脱危险，免遭伤害

24.acquit oneself：使自己作出某种表现；使自己履行(或完成)

25.in the vicinity：在附近

26.lay oneself open to：使自己易遭攻击(指责等)

27.mercantile [ˈmɜː(r)kəntaɪl] adj. 商业的，与商业有关的

28.quirk [kwɜː(r)k] n. 讽刺，嘲弄

29.keep abreast of：了解……的最新进展情况

30.collapsible [kəˈlæpsəb(ə)l] adj. 可折叠成紧凑形状的，可套缩的

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