在百慕大三角有去无回的十次不幸旅程(3)

Marine Sulphur Queen

Marine Sulphur Queen号

A tanker carrying a load of molten sulphur, the SS Marine Sulphur Queen, disappeared off the southern coast of Florida in February 1963. As a result, the wreckage and 39-member crew were lost without a trace. According to the U.S. Coast Guard's investigation, the ship was in questionable condition and probably wasn't seaworthy to start: Fires were commonplace and the ship was known to have a "weak back," meaning that the keel was likely to split when weakened by corrosion. When the ship was converted from its original purpose as an oil tanker to carry molten sulphur, a high center of gravity resulted that might have caused the vessel to capsize. No one knows for certain what happened to the Sulphur Queen, but its demise was probably a result of its poor condition rather than a mysterious force.

1963年2月，载有大量熔硫的SS Marine Sulphur Queen号油轮，从美国弗洛里达州的南海岸消失了。结果，就连船只残骸和39名船员也都踪迹全无。据美国海岸自卫队（U.S. Coast Guard）的调查显示，该船当时状况不佳，可能并不适航：因为该船发生火灾是常事，并且“底盘脆弱”，这便意味着该船船底一旦受到侵蚀就极有可能断裂。当一艘油轮用于运载熔硫时，它的重心会提高，如此便极有可能引起船只倾覆。无人知道SS Marine Sulphur Queen号到底经历了什么，但是它的倾覆是其本身状况不佳所致，而不是什么神秘力量在作祟。

-3 Airliner NC16002

16002号DC-3客机

An Airborne Transport DC-3 airliner carrying 29 passengers and three crew members disappeared near the end of a scheduled flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Miami, Fla. on December 28, 1948. Pilot Robert Linquist had told local repair crew that a landing gear warning light was not functioning and the aircraft batteries were discharged, but he was unwilling to delay the scheduled takeoff for repairs. Air traffic controllers in Miami heard transmissions from the flight during the night, including a report that the flight was 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Miami. Since the transmission was reported from New Orleans, it is possible that the aircraft may have drifted off course. Nothing else was heard from the doomed flight, and the aircraft has never been found.

1948年12月28日，一架载有29名乘客和3名机组人员的 DC-3空中运输客机从波多黎各（Puerto Rico）的圣胡安（San Juan）起飞，前往美国佛罗里达州的迈阿密（Miami），结果却在即将抵达目的地时神秘失踪。起飞前，飞行员罗伯特·林德奎斯特（Robert Linquist）就曾告诉当地的维修人员飞机起落架的一个警示灯出现了故障,电池也需要充电,但他却不愿因花时间维修而推迟起飞。迈阿密的航管员在夜间接收到了航班发出的无线电信号,其中一条消息称航班已飞至迈阿密以南50英里(80公里)处。鉴于该信号是从新奥尔良(New Orleans)发出的,人们推测飞机可能已经渐渐偏离了航向。而这一失事班机此后音讯全无，至今未能找到。

ht 19

1.第19飞行队

On the afternoon of December 5, 1945, five Avenger torpedo bombers left the Naval Air Station at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with Lt. Charles Taylor in command of a crew of 13 student pilots. About an hour and a half into the flight, Taylor radioed the base to say that his compasses weren't working, but he estimated he was somewhere over the Florida Keys. The lieutenant who received the signal told Taylor to fly north toward Miami, as long as he was sure he was actually over the Keys. Although he was an experienced pilot, Taylor got horribly turned around, and the more he tried to get out of the Keys, the further out to sea he and his crew traveled.

1945年12月5日下午，美国海军上尉查尔斯·泰勒（Charles Taylor）率领13名飞行学员，驾驶着五架海军“复仇者”号鱼雷轰炸机从佛罗里达州的劳德代尔堡海军航空基地起飞。在飞行了大约一个半小时后，泰勒向指挥台发送无线电信号，称罗盘失灵，但据他估测，他们位于佛罗里达群岛上空。一名中尉接收了讯息，并告诉泰勒如果他确定处于佛罗里达群岛上空的话，就向北飞往迈阿密。尽管泰勒有着丰富的飞行经验，但他还是弄反了方向，居然带领飞行队掉头，以至于他们越想驶离群岛，就越飞向了更远的海域。

As night fell, the reception of radio signals worsened, until, finally, there was nothing at all from Flight 19. A U.S. Navy investigation reported that Taylor's confusion caused the disaster, but his mother convinced them to change the official report to read that the planes went down for "causes unknown." The planes have never been recovered.

夜幕降临，无线电信号接收变得更加困难，最终第19飞行队彻底失联。一份美国海军调查报告称，是因泰勒迷失方向导致了这场灾难，但泰勒的母亲说服他们将官方报告改成了飞机失事原因不明。这些轰炸机到现在还是踪迹全无。

审校:落月 校对:落花生 编辑:旭旭