泰坦尼克號失事百年 沉船地點舉行紀念

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.泰坦尼克號海難事故發生一百週年之際，伴隨着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，天空佈滿繁星，紀念郵輪“巴爾莫勒爾號”巡遊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-利特爾約翰上週日告訴記者：“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。”利特爾約翰的祖父亞歷山大-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裏，儘管向外排水也排不乾淨。”

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。

儘管紀念郵輪上的一些人是遇難者的親屬，但也有一些是專門花費了幾千英鎊的船票來重遊泰坦尼克號從南安普敦開往紐約的宿命之旅。

泰坦尼克號在當時是全球最大的船舶，於1912年4月15日在紐芬蘭附近冰冷的大西洋海域沉沒。

上週六晚間11點40分，也就是泰坦尼克號撞擊冰山的準確時間，“巴爾莫勒爾”號紀念郵輪的汽笛劃破長空，之後是兩分鐘的默哀。

之後，“巴爾莫勒爾”號上1300名乘客中的大多數人擠到甲板上舉行儀式，唱讚美詩。週日凌晨2點20分，也就是泰坦尼克號沉沒的時刻，人們把三個花圈扔進平靜的水裏。