californian was not in visual distance.....that was a myth and it was diprooved.
there had to be a third ship between titanic and californian.
Sorry, but no. The various mystery ship, thermal inversion, and other theories are all bullshit, bullshit made up to rehabilitate Lord when no rehabilitation is necessary.
Earlier that evening,
Californian had actually
steamed into the ice field before being brought to a stop. She then reported the presence of ice by radio. At the time of the
Titanic disaster,
Californian was still in the middle of an ice field, with her boilers drawn down, and no searchlight.
Even if she'd immediately responded to
Titanic's radio calls and rockets, stoking her boilers, and then
picked her way through an ice field in the dark without the help of a searchlight would not have covered the distance to
Titanic before the liner went down. Even if
Calfornian had been able to cover the distance at her top design speed, she still would have most likely not arrived before the liner went down.
There's an important aspect of maritime rescue attempts that far too many simpletons routinely ignore. A captain is supposed to render all aid possible without also putting his ship in danger. Lord's ship was in the middle of an ice field. Any attempt to steam through it before daybreak would have gravely endangered his ship.
Californian saw
Titanic and saw her rockets, but
Californian was also trapped in an ice field until daybreak.