Couldn't it have been possible for the Californian to hold the Titanic's passengers and crew just long enough for other rescue ships to arrive, and then redistribute them onto these new ships?
In order to be able to do that, around 1500 people should have first been taken on board the
Californian. How do you expect that could have been accomplished?
The
Californian was stopped for the night between 11 and 14 miles from the
Titanic and at best could do 12 knots. So, let us try to imagine the
most optimistic hypothetical scenario. For this purpose, I'll keep everything as positive as possible.
By the time
Captain Smith realized that the
Titanic was sinking, it was around 12:05am. Let us imagine he immediately and emphatically ordered his Officers to muster passengers and crew, to prepare, swing out load and lower the lifeboats and also went to the wireless room to order the operators to start sending out distress signals immediately. Also ordered
Boxhall to start firing rockets for the benefit of the other ship's lights, which they could see in the distance.
Continuing on that hypothetical positive note, assume that on board the
Californian, Cyril Evans was awake and alert, heard the distress calls and alerted Captain Lord immediately; within minutes, Stone, who had come on duty at midnight, confirmed the rockets seen from the bridge. Captain Lord jumped up, issued a series of very appropriate orders to his crew, including those in the Engine room, posted doube lookouts and stood on watch on the bridge himself while his ship started to the rescue. Unless I am mistaken, even with everyone responding with maximum efficiency, it would have been at least 12:20am by the time the
Californian got under way.
Given the ice around and its maximum speed, the
Californian would probably have got within 200 metres of the sinking
Titanic by about 1:40 am. By then the crew of the
Titanic, also working with maximum efficiency and full cooperation of the passengers, had filled and lowered 15 lifeboats, with at least 50 people per boat, allowing men in if there was room. That's still only about 800 people in the lifeboats, leaving around 1400 people still on board the sinking
Titanic. What next? You tell me.