The Titanic did not go down instantly. It was able to send out a call for help at 11:58 pm - 18 minutes after it hit the iceberg. The other ships in the area are: Californian, Mount Temple, Carpathia and Birma. Californian is the closest, only 19 nautical miles away. However, they are not without their own problems. They are obstructed by an ice field at 10:30 pm. Mount Temple, at 49 nautical miles is the next closest. At 12:30 am they start heading towards the Titanic. But they get stuck at 3:25 am, also obstructed by an ice field. Carpathia is 58 nautical miles out, while Birma is 70. Both head for the area, Birma at 12:30 am, Carpathia at 12:35 am. At 2:20 am, the Titanic sinks. The survivors are in lifeboats and many think they are going to die. Carpathia reaches the area at 4:00 am and picks up 711 survivors. Their rescue effort was not in vain. And while the other ships were unable to make it, I'd like to point out from what I can see they did their best to help. (It wasn't mentioned in the exhibit, but one of my friends who was there mentioned outside of the exhibit apparently some criticized Californian since they were much closer but didn't try to rescue anyone on the Titanic. But if reports are accurate they were trapped by ice so it wasn't possible for them to try to rescue anyone so I think that was a bit of an unfair criticism. Unless of course I'm missing some vital info). #Titanic #Exhibit