泰坦尼克號失事百年沉船地點舉行紀念

中國日報網 2012-04-16 15:17

Children walk past the grave of an unknown child from the Titanic sinking, after the 100th anniversary memorial service at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 15, 2012.(Agencies)

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At the shrill sound of a ship's whistle in the North Atlantic, relatives of some of the more than 1,500 people who died when the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg remembered their ancestors in a poignant ceremony a century later.

On a still, starry night and with little glare from the moon, the memorial cruise ship MS Balmoral floated above the wreckage of the famous 'unsinkable' luxury liner precisely 100 years to the day it foundered.

"At 2:20 am all was quiet, as it would have been 100 years ago when it went deathly quiet, when the screaming stopped," British Titanic historian Philip Littlejohn told the reporters on Sunday. Littlejohn's grandfather, Alexander Littlejohn, was a 1st class steward in charge of lifeboat 13 when the ship began to go down.

About 700 people were rescued that night, including his grandfather, but there were too few lifeboats to save the rest.

David Haisman, 74, a retired seaman from the English port town of Southampton, mourned the loss of his grandfather who had been on his way to Seattle to start a new life in the United States with his wife and daughter.

"I've been brought up with the story but now I could feel it," he said.

"My mother used to tell me how she got into lifeboat 14 and her feet became soaked with the 3 to 4 inches of water that remained in the bottom despite bailing."

The last time she saw her father was when he cupped his hands and shouted "I'll see you in New York".

The story of the world's most famous maritime disaster has gripped the world's imagination, inspiring Hollywood films.

While some of those on board the memorial cruise were relatives of the victims, others had paid thousands of pounds in order to retrace the vessel's fateful journey from Southampton to New York.

The ship, the biggest in the world at the time, foundered in frigid Atlantic waters off Newfoundland on April 15, 1912.

On Saturday, Balmoral's ship's whistle pierced the air at 11.40 pm, the exact time the Titanic hit the iceberg, followed by a two-minute silence.

Most of Balmoral's 1,300 passengers then squeezed onto the deck for a service and hymns, and to watch three wreaths be thrown into the calm waters at 2.20am Sunday morning, the moment she sank.

(Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)

泰坦尼克號海難事故發生一百周年之際，伴隨著大西洋上船舶汽笛的尖銳聲響，部分遇難者家屬舉行沉痛的悼念儀式紀念先輩。一個世紀前，泰坦尼克號撞上冰山沉沒，超過1500人因此喪生。

在這個寂靜的夜晚，月光朦朧，天空布滿繁星，紀念郵輪“巴爾莫勒爾號”巡游在泰坦尼克號的失事地點。100年前的當晚，這艘號稱“永不沉沒”的著名豪華郵輪沉沒海底。

英國泰坦尼克號歷史學家菲利普-利特爾約翰上周日告訴記者：“凌晨兩點二十分，一片沉寂，就如同100年前的當晚一樣死寂，這時，船的汽笛聲突然停止了?！崩貭柤s翰的祖父亞歷山大-利特爾約翰當時是頭等艙的管事，船舶開始沉沒時主管第13號救生艇。

當晚，大約700人獲救，其中包括他的祖父，但救生艇太少，導致多人遇難。

英國港口城市南安普敦74歲的退休海員大衛-海斯曼悼念了他的祖父。當時他的祖父乘船與妻女一同前往西雅圖，想在美國開始新的生活。

他說：“我長大的過程中一直聽到這個故事，但我現在可以感受到它了。”

“我的母親曾告訴我，她是如何登上了14號救生艇，雙腳浸泡在三到四英寸深的水里，盡管向外排水也排不干凈?！?/p>

她和父親永別時，父親緊握住她的雙手喊道：“我會在紐約見你。”

全球這起最著名的海難的故事引來了整個世界的無限遐想，也給好萊塢影片帶來了靈感。