This is an undated photo showing the bow of the Titanic at rest on the bottom of the North Atlantic, about 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland.
The discovery of two large pieces of the Titanic's hull on the ocean floor indicates that the fabled luxury liner sank faster than previously thought, researchers said Monday.
The hull pieces were a crucial part of the ship's structure and make up a bottom section of the vessel that was missing when the wreck was first located in 1985, the researchers said.
After the bottom section of the hull broke free, the bow and stern split, said Roger Long, a naval architect who analyzed the find. The stern, which was still buoyant and filled with survivors, likely plunged toward the ocean floor about five minutes later.
"It would have been immediately terrifying," he said.
Previous researchers believed the ship broke in just two major pieces, the bow and stern, which was how the sinking was depicted in the 1997 film version of the catastrophe. David Brown, a Titanic historian, estimated before the latest find that the stern took 20 minutes to slide into the water.
"It turns out the Titanic was more merciful. It was over more quickly," Brown said.
The newly found hull sections, located about a third of a mile from the stern of the wreck, were examined during an expedition in August sponsored by The History Channel. On Monday, Titanic experts met at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to discuss their analysis of the find for a documentary to be aired on the cable channel on Feb. 26.
The sections, both about 40 feet by 90 feet, were once a single section and were found in good condition, with red bottom paint still visible. The missing sections had been believed to have fragmented into hundreds of small pieces.
"The breakup and sinking of the Titanic has never been accurately depicted," said Parks Stephenson, a Titanic historian who took part in Monday's conference.
The 46,000-ton ocean liner was billed as "practically unsinkable" by the publicity magazines of the period. But it struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank about 2 1/2 hours later, on April 14, 1912. About 1,500 people died.
(Agencies)
探险人员于本周一表示，他们在海底新发现了泰坦尼克号的两块船体残骸，由此说明这艘传说中的豪华客轮下沉的速度比原来想象得要快。
据探险家介绍，这两块船体残骸是轮船底部的主要构成，是"泰坦尼克号"船体的核心部位。而1985年，泰坦尼克号的残骸被发现时，这两块并不在其中。
轮船建筑师罗格·朗对新发现进行了分析，他解释说，船底断裂后，船首和船尾分离。船尾可能是在5分钟之后沉入海底，这之前，船尾还浮在水中，幸存者们都挤在上面。
他说，“如果是这样的话，那就太可怕了。”
之前的探险家们认为泰坦尼克号船首和船尾断裂成两部分，1997年反映这场灾难的电影《泰坦尼克号》就是依据这种说法拍摄船体下沉时的情景的。在发现新残骸之前，根据"泰坦尼克号"历史学家大卫·布朗的估算，船尾在20分钟后沉入海底。
布朗说，“新发现表明'泰坦尼克号'的命运比想象中的还要悲惨，实际上它的生命在更短的时间内就结束了。”
今年8月，在美国历史频道发起的一次探险活动中，这两块船体碎片在距船尾残骸三分之一英里的地方被发现。周一，“泰坦尼克号”的研究专家们在伍兹霍尔海洋研究所碰面，交换新发现的分析意见，据此，一部以“泰坦尼克号”为主题的纪录片将于明年的2月26日在有线频道播出。
这两块碎片每片约为40英尺长，90英尺宽，原本是一个整体。被发现时，两块碎片状态良好，底部的红色油漆依然清晰可见。而船体其余不见的部分则被认为断裂成了几百块小碎片。
参加周一研讨会的泰坦尼克号历史学帕克斯·史蒂文森说，“泰坦尼克号的断裂和下沉过程从来没有被精确的描述过”。
这艘重达4.6万顿的海轮当时被宣传杂志称为“永不沉没之船”。但就在1912年4月14日，“泰坦尼克号”处女航的那一天，它撞上了一座冰山，并在2个半小时后沉入海底。船上约1,500人丧生。
(中国日报网站编译)
Vocabulary:
witness: one who is called on to be present at a transaction in order to attest to what takes place（见证人）
