美国国家公共电台 NPR Titanic Documentary Suggests Engine Room Fire Led To Sinking

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: 

The story of the Titanic¹ that most people know is pretty straightforward² - unsinkable ship sets sail. Ship hits iceberg³. Ship sinks. A new documentary suggests an extra wrinkle in that 104-year-old story. The claim is that a coal fire that started on the Titanic before its maiden⁴ voyage weakened its hull⁵ before it hit that iceberg.

Senan Molony is the journalist and author behind the documentary about this. It's called "Titanic: The New Evidence." He joins us now via Skype. Welcome to the program.

SENAN MOLONY: Thank you so much, Audie. And by the way, it's now a 105-year-old mystery, so (laughter)...

CORNISH: That's true.

MOLONY: Happy New Year.

CORNISH: (Laughter) Happy New Year. So help us understand how a fire could get going on a ship before it even set sail and no one notice.

MOLONY: Well, that's the way of spontaneous coal fires. They can come about, and they did come about in this case because evidence was given at the subsequent inquiries⁶ after the sinking that there had indeed been a coal bunker fire. And the coal fire was never really tackled and wasn't begun to be dug out, which was the way to treat it in those days, until the ship had actually sailed on her maiden voyage.

CORNISH: So this fire starts, and they are actually trying to fight it as the ship is sailing along. And the theory now is that this actually weakened the hull of the ship. So already it was at a disadvantage before any iceberg came into play.

MOLONY: Correct. What we're seeing now are sort of new photographs that are showing an apparent deformity on the ship's starboard side. A diagonal mark that has caused me in this documentary to investigate the coal bunker fire has launched a series of dominoes, if you like, whereby when the fire is subjected to scientific analysis and allied⁷ to the eyewitness⁸ testimony⁹ in 1912, we're now hearing from the scientists that this fire must have been of the order of a thousand degrees Celsius¹⁰.

Taking that further and speaking to metallurgists, they're saying that exposure to that level of heat would have robbed that type of steel in the day of 75 percent of its strength. So then when you get an iceberg collision and a massive ingress of seawater - hundreds of thousands of tons of seawater coming in - you have a situation whereby the fire is co-author of the ultimate catastrophe¹¹.

CORNISH: You know, we should say that not everyone agrees that the fire was a major factor. Could the ship have gone down even if there hadn't been a fire?

MOLONY: Yeah, the ship would undoubtedly¹² have gone down very probably if there hadn't been a fire. But the point was it would have stayed afloat far longer and certainly into daylight the next day when rescue ships already on their way would have been met by, you know, the floating Titanic and could have affected¹³ rescue of maybe hundreds of lives in addition to those that were saved by the lifeboats.

CORNISH: In the end, why do you think that this mystery still fascinates people?

MOLONY: Well, it fascinates people because it has entered the mythic sphere, one thing and another on what comparison's made about deck chairs changing on the Titanic and so forth¹⁴. The very idea of a maiden voyage sinking is hugely interesting in itself. And it has made a transformation¹⁵ into, as I say, the mythic status now, such that people consider it almost an inviolable idea in itself.

CORNISH: Senan Molony is a journalist with The Irish Daily Mail. His documentary is "Titanic: The New Evidence." Thank you for speaking with us.

MOLONY: You're more than welcome, Audie.

(SOUNDBITE OF TIM ATLAS SONG, "COMPROMISED")

1 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

2 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

3 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

4 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

5 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

6 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

8 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

9 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

10 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

11 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

12 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

15 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。