雙語暢銷書《艾倫圖靈傳》第5章:解謎接力賽(89)
The time lag, for those interpreting the messages, was profoundly frustrating.
The naval messages, unlike the bulk of those emanating from the other services, had to carry pieces of first-rate information. One of the first to be decrypted read:
與其它部門的絕大部分報告不同，海軍的信息必須是最有用的信息。比如其中一條解碼信息寫着：Naval Attache Washington reports convoy rendezvous 25th February 200 sea miles east of Sable Island.
海軍領事華盛頓報告護航2月25日塞布爾島東部200海里。
13 cargo boats, 4 tankers 100,000 tons. Cargo: aeroplane parts, machine parts, motor lorries, munitions, chemicals. Probably the number of the convoy is HX 114.
13艘貨船，4輛坦克100, 000噸。貨艙：飛機零件、機器零件、卡車、軍需品、醫藥。護航的可能是HX114。But on 12 March, when its decipherment was achieved, it was three weeks too late to do anything but wonder how the Naval Attache had found out so much.
然而，當3月12日破譯這條信息時，已經晚了三星期了，沒法做出什麼反應，只能驚奇一下這位海軍領事是怎麼知道這些的。Two days later they read a message from Dnitz:
兩天後，他們讀到一則來自鄧尼茨的信息：From: Admiral commanding U boats
自：海軍潛艇指揮部Escort for U69 and U107 will be at point 2 on March 1st at 0800 hours.
護送U69和U107的艦隊將會在3月1日0800點到達2點方位。which two weeks earlier would have been exactly what the Tracking Room wanted, if only it could be known where Point 2 was.
追蹤室在兩週前就想要這條信息了，最好還能知道2點方位是什麼地方。It was necessary to amass the traffic in order to attack such problems of interpretation. Thus:
這需要靠積累更多的通信才能解釋。比如：English ship Anchises lies in AM 4538, damaged from the air.
英國船安契西斯在AM4538被空軍擊毀。Provided it were not slung into the waste paper basket as in Room 40 days, reveal the location of grid reference AM 4538.
只要他們不像第40室那樣把這條信息扔進廢紙簍，那麼它就能指示出AM4538的具體方位。
