在美国海军成立251周年之际，美国政客们纷纷涌向社交媒体，以爱国主义的生日祝福向这支部队致敬。但其中出现了一个问题：他们所展示的一些被当作美国军舰的船只，实际上属于印度和俄罗斯海军，这使得一场旨在庆祝美国海军实力的活动，变成了一场关于海上身份认知的讽刺性乌龙。
As the US Navy turned 251, American politicians rushed to salute the force with patriotic birthday wishes. There was just one catch. Some of the warships they passed off as American, belonged to the navies of India and Russia, turning a celebration of US naval power into an ironic display of mistaken maritime identity.
美国海军正在庆祝其成立251周年。然而，在匆忙纪念这一时刻的过程中，几位知名的共和党议员和州长无意中使用了印度和俄罗斯海军运营的军舰图片，来祝贺美国海上力量生日快乐。
The US Navy is celebrating its 251st birthday. But in the rush to mark the occasion, several prominent Republican lawmakers and state governors inadvertently used images of warships operated by the Indian and Russian navies to wish America's seaborne force a happy birthday.
美国海军成立于1775年，即该国宣布独立并仍在抗击英国殖民统治枷锁的前一年。这支在多项指标上仍是世界上最强大的海军，于周二（10月13日）庆祝了其251岁生日。
The US Navy was founded in 1775, a year before the country declared its independence and was still fighting off the shackles of British colonialism. The force, which remains the most powerful Navy in the world on several metrics, celebrated its 251st birthday on Tuesday (October 13).
鉴于这一重要时刻，可以预见美国政客，尤其是共和党政客，会迅速向美国海军表达生日祝福。事实也确实如此。
Given the momentous occasion, it would be fair to assume that American politicians, particularly those from the Republican Party, would be quick to wish the US Navy a happy birthday. And they were.
共和党籍佐治亚州州长布莱恩·P·肯普在X平台上写道：“从我们国家建立之初，海军就一直守护着我们的国家，捍卫着全球海洋的自由。在海军生日之际，我们向那些以服务、牺牲和勇气传承这一传统的船员们致敬。”肯普还分享了一张三艘军舰纵队航行的照片，上面印有“祝美国海军生日快乐”的字样和佐治亚州的州徽。不得不说，这非常爱国。
Posting on X, Georgia Governor Brian P Kemp, a Republican, wrote, "From the early days of our nation's founding, the Navy has stood watch over our country and defended freedom across the seas. On its birthday, we salute the sailors whose service, sacrifice, and courage carry that legacy forward." Kemp also shared an image of three warships sailing in line astern, emblazoned with the words "Happy Birthday US Navy" and the seal of the state of Georgia. Very patriotic we must say.
但这里有一个小问题，美国《华尔街日报》的记者戴夫·布朗率先在X平台上指出了这一点。肯普分享的图片中的军舰并非美国军舰。正如布朗所言：“那是印度军舰。”
There was just one small issue, which Dave Brown, a journalist with the US-based newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, was the first to point out via a post on X. The warships in the image shared by Kemp were not American. As Brown put it, "Those are Indian warships".
布朗是对的。反向图片搜索显示，肯普帖子中的军舰是三艘印度海军护卫舰：戈达瓦里号（INS Godavari）、布拉马普特拉号（INS Brahmaputra）和比阿斯号（INS Beas）。这张照片似乎是由一名美国海军摄影师在2008年两国海军参加联合海军演习时拍摄的。与此同时，肯普X帖子下的社区注释将这些船只识别为加尔各答级导弹驱逐舰，这一识别似乎是不正确的。
And Brown is right. A reverse image search reveals that the warships in Kemp's post are three Indian Navy frigates, INS Godavari, INS Brahmaputra and INS Beas. The photograph appears to have been taken by a US Navy photographer in 2008, when the two navies were participating in a joint naval exercise. A Community Note on Kemp's X post, meanwhile, identified the vessels as Kolkata-class guided-missile destroyers, an identification that appears to be incorrect.
但肯普远非唯一一个使用外国军舰图片来祝贺美国海军生日的美国政客。
But Kemp was far from the only American politician to use images of foreign warships to wish the US Navy a happy birthday.
布朗在X上发布的一系列帖子中，强调了其他美国政客和公众人物犯下的类似错误。
In a series of posts on X, Brown highlighted similar mistakes by other American politicians and public figures.
俄亥俄州众议员迈克·多维拉（共和党人）——讽刺的是，他曾是一名美国海军少校——在祝贺美国海军生日快乐时，使用了一张布朗认定属于俄罗斯海军的军舰照片。
Ohio State Representative Mike Dovilla, a Republican and, rather ironically, a former US Navy lieutenant commander, was seen wishing the US Navy a happy birthday with an image of warships that Brown identified as belonging to the Russian Navy.
美国边境巡逻队官员杰弗里·J·迪尼斯使用了一张俄罗斯基洛夫级战列巡洋舰的照片。与此同时，北卡罗来纳州美国众议员蒂姆·摩尔使用了与肯普分享的相同的三艘印度海军护卫舰的照片。
Jeffrey J Dinise, an official with the US Border Patrol, used an image of a Russian Kirov-class battlecruiser. US Congressman Tim Moore of North Carolina, meanwhile, used the same image of the three Indian Navy frigates shared by Kemp.
民主党政客、圣迭戈市市长托德·格洛里亚（该市是美国海军最大的海军基地所在地之一）使用了一张苏联时代的“米哈伊尔·库图佐夫”号巡洋舰的照片，该舰目前是俄罗斯新罗西斯克的一艘博物馆船。
Democratic politician and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, whose city is home to one of the US Navy's largest naval bases, used an image of the Soviet-era cruiser Mikhail Kutuzov, which is now a museum ship in Novorossiysk, Russia.
与共和党结盟的智库“自由核心小组基金会”的社交媒体账号也参与其中，使用了一张印度海军护卫舰“特里坎德”号（INS Trikand）的照片。
The social media account of the Freedom Caucus Foundation, a Republican-aligned think tank, also joined in, using an image of the Indian Navy frigate INS Trikand.
这些帖子在X上遭到了大量的嘲讽。有人开玩笑说：“天哪，我们的军舰也持有H1B签证吗？！！快，有人去告诉JD·万斯。”
The posts were met by a healthy share of ridicule on X. One person joked, "Oh god our warships are here on H1B too?!!! QUICKLY, someone tell JD Vance.
“得知政客们识别美国海军舰艇的能力并不比他们识别美国空军飞机强，我感到很欣慰，”一人写道。
"I'm heartened to learn that politicians are no better at identifying USN ships than they are at identifying USAF aircraft," wrote one person.
“美国到底发生了什么？在声称拥有格陵兰岛和某片海域之后，他们现在又声称我们的船是他们的了？”另一个人写道。还有人感叹，肯普本可以找到更好的印度海军照片。
"What in a world is going on in US ? So after claiming Greenland and some patch of ocean, they are now claiming our ships as theirs too?", wrote another. One person lameneted that there were better images of the Indian Navy Kemp could have used.
最终，一场旨在庆祝美国海军实力的生日纪念，变成了一场意想不到的展示，主角却是那些与美国海军并肩作战、有时又存在竞争关系的国家的军舰。对于涉事的政客或他们的社交媒体团队来说，教训很简单：在向舰队致敬之前，最好先核实一下照片里航行的是谁家的船。
In the end, a birthday meant to celebrate American naval power became an unintended showcase of warships from countries whose navies operate alongside, and at times in competition with, the US Navy. For the politicians, or their social media teams involved, the lesson was simple. Before saluting the fleet, it might help to check whose ships are sailing in the photograph.