退役客轮“美国号”（SS United States）停泊在宾夕法尼亚州费城的一个码头上。该船至今仍保持着东西向跨大西洋航行的速度纪录。AFP PHOTO/JEWEL SAMAD JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images/AFP一艘巨轮昨日在佛罗里达海岸附近沉没——而海岸警卫队对此未采取任何行动。
Retired passenger liner SS United States is pictured at a dock in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The SS United States still holds the east- and west-bound transatlantic crossing records. AFP PHOTO/JEWEL SAMAD JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images/AFP A giant ship sunk off the coast of Florida yesterday—and the coast guard didn't do a thing to stop it.
“美国号”是一艘退役远洋客轮，于周三被故意凿沉，以建造世界上最大的人工鱼礁。经过数小时的缓慢下沉，它于昨晚美国东部时间晚上10点最终消失在波涛之下。它如今直立地静卧在墨西哥湾海底，水深180英尺。
The SS United States is a retired ocean liner that was deliberately sunk on Wednesday to create the world's largest artificial reef. After hours of slow descent, it finally disappeared beneath the waves at 10 p.m. ET last night. It now rests 180 feet beneath the surface at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in an upright position.
这艘巨轮从船头到船尾长近1000英尺，比“泰坦尼克号”还要长。在它安稳地躺在海底后，船上的数百间船舱、走廊和电梯井将成为潜水员、鱼类及其他水生生物的深海游乐场。
Measuring almost 1,000 feet from bow to stern, the giant ship is longer than the Titanic. After it's settled on the ocean floor, the ship's hundreds of rooms, corridors and elevator shafts will become a deep-sea playground for divers, fish and other aquatic life.
这一转变让“美国号”获得了第二次生命，并迎来了一批新的“乘客”。
This transformation gives the SS United States the opportunity for a second life and a new species of passenger.
苏珊·吉布斯（Susan Gibbs）对这艘船最后一航沉入墨西哥湾底心情复杂。她是“美国号”保护协会董事会主席，她的祖父威廉·弗朗西斯·吉布斯（William Francis Gibbs）在70多年前设计了这艘船。
Susan Gibbs has mixed feelings about the ship's final voyage to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. She chairs the board of the SS United States Conservancy, and her grandfather, William Francis Gibbs, designed the ship more than 70 years ago.
“这是一种悲伤与感激、希望交织的心情，悲伤的是我将不得不向她现在的形态告别，但感激和希望的是她将继续回馈世界，”她在接受《早间版》（Morning Edition）节目采访时表示。
"It's a combination of grief, that I will be saying goodbye to her in her current form, but, gratitude and hope in terms of what she will continue to give to the world," she told Morning Edition The ocean liner took its maiden voyage in 1952, and it shattered the trans-Atlantic speed record, winning the coveted Blue Riband on her opening sail.
这艘远洋客轮于1952年进行了首航，并打破了跨大西洋航速纪录，在首航中赢得了梦寐以求的“蓝丝带奖”（Blue Riband）。60多年后，它仍保持着这一纪录。
It still holds the record more than 60 years later.
根据“美国号”保护协会的说法，万一发生战争，“美国号”本可从一艘豪华客轮改装成军用运输舰，能在不加油的情况下运送1.4万名士兵航行1万英里，尽管它从未被用于此目的。
In the event of war, the SS United States could have been converted from a luxury liner to a military transport vessel able to carry 14,000 troops for 10,000 miles without refueling, though it was never used for this purpose, according to the SS United States Conservancy.
1952年：欢呼的人群排列在码头边，观看打破纪录的客轮“美国号”抵达南安普顿。该船在处女航中以创纪录的时间横渡大西洋。
1952: Cheering crowds lining the quayside as the record breaking liner, SS United States arrives in Southampton. She crossed the Atlantic in record time on her maiden voyage.
M. Fresco/Getty Images/Hulton Archive 到1969年结束其航运生涯时，“美国号”曾载过多位知名乘客，包括哈里·杜鲁门、沃尔特·迪士尼、玛丽莲·梦露、沃尔特·克朗凯特和年青时的比尔·克林顿。
M. Fresco/Getty Images/Hulton Archive By the end of her time on the water in 1969, the SS United States carried several notable passengers, including Harry Truman, Walt Disney, Marilyn Monroe, Walter Cronkite and a young Bill Clinton.
“她体现了一个国家的精神，该国对自己完成非凡壮举的能力充满自信，”吉布斯说。
"She embodied the spirit of a nation so confident in its ability to accomplish the extraordinary," said Gibbs.
保护协会原本想将该船改造成酒店或博物馆，但因法律和财务问题，最终于2024年将其出售给佛罗里达州奥卡鲁萨县。是该县决定将其沉没。
The conservancy wanted to transform the ship into a hotel or museum, but due to legal and financial issues, they eventually sold it to Okaloosa County, Florida in 2024. It was the county's decision to sink it.
现实地说，要沉没一艘设计用于漂浮在水面上的船并不容易。因此，奥卡鲁萨县请来了专业人士。
Realistically, it's not easy to sink something that's designed to stay above water. So, Okaloosa County called in the professionals.
专门从事人工鱼礁建设的海洋工程承包公司科林海洋工程公司主导了该项目。该公司总裁兼联合创始人科林·奥马利表示，他们尽最大努力保留了船只的原始设计。
Coleen Marine, a marine engineering contracting company who specializes in creating artificial reefs, led the project. Their President and co-founder Coleen O'Malley said they did their best to preserve the ship's original design.
“我们保留了实际的船体。所以她非常容易辨认，”奥马利说。“我们让水下的结构看起来像她在水面上时的样子。”
"We've maintained the actual hull. So she's very recognizable," O'Malley said. "We've made it so that the structure under the water is going to look like she did above the water."
为了沉船，科林海洋工程团队必须修补船体上的孔洞和不规则处，以确保其能正常沉没。奥马利详细说明：“沉船最大的问题不在于注入多少水，而在于确保空气排出。”团队还清理了大部分生锈的外部，为水生生物创造更适宜的环境。最重要的是，团队要确保船只垂直下沉，不发生翻侧或转向。总体而言，奥马利表示施工耗时超过18个月。
To sink the ship, the Coleen Marine team had to repair holes and irregularities in the hull to ensure it would sink properly. O'Malley detailed that "the biggest thing with sinking a ship is not how much water you put in. It's making sure the air comes out." The team also cleaned much of the rusted exterior to make a more welcoming environment for aquatic life. Most importantly, the team wanted to ensure that the ship sank straight down, without flipping or turning. Overall, O'Malley said construction took more than 18 months.
奥马利和吉布斯周三都前往德斯廷和沃尔顿堡海滩海岸，目睹“美国号”沉入波涛之下。
Both O'Malley and Gibbs made the journey to the coast of Destin and Fort Walton Beach to watch the SS United States disappear below the waves Wednesday.
在“美国号”轮（SS United States）最后一次露出水面之后，“美国号”轮保护协会（SS United States Conservancy）正计划在佛罗里达州为该船建造一座博物馆。
In the wake of its last moments above the surface, the SS United States Conservancy is planning to construct a museum in the ship's honor in Florida.