15 May 2014

Show 'em ... _#7

As the heading suggests, this post is one of a series.
To follow, start with Show 'em what you can do_#1 and proceed in chronological order.
This is a teaching/training/exchange exercise.
Feel free to submit comments or suggestions, including alternative and improved translations.


Block 4

For the French, see Les paris gagnés de DCN

Power & electricals in a four-storey module

A Le Triomphant-class submarine’s power & electricals module is 9 metres tall, 6 metres across and 4 metres wide, or about the size of a small four-storey apartment. This 190-tonne structure houses a host of items including control consoles and mimic panels for the nuclear reactor, generating plant and propulsion system.

In earlier submarine designs, these items were scattered throughout various decks and compartments and interconnected by masses of cabling resulting in an increased risk of vibration, hence noise.

By grouping all these items together, the power & electricals module contributes directly to improved acoustic discretion. Plastic, silicone and rubber spacers and strips help to decouple cables, pipework and hull while allowing noiseless movement.

Caption: Lowering a power & electricals module into position
Running commentary
  • HLM, a type of public housing common in France, rendered by the generic (and international English) term 'apartment'. 'Four-storey apartment' sounds rather odd, but I can't see how else to phrase it. 'Four-storey apartment block' would be misleading it seems to me. (Hopefully, the British spellings 'storey' and 'tonne' will not trouble those unfamiliar with them too much.) The choice of British spelling is in line with DCN's established practice. (To my mind, it also identifies, in a tiny flag-waving way, the enterprise as European rather than American.)
  • The last sentence, corresponding to the last two of the French, is significantly simpler than the original with little or no loss of information.

ChatGPT, a drafting aid for translation by emulation

On 17 October 2011, I published the first of two posts summarising my general approach to the type of translation/adaptation services I was ...