Which ship was first to arrive on the disaster scene and rescue survivors of the Titanic?

The RMS Carpathia was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship that made her maiden voyage in 1903 from Liverpool to Boston, and continued on this route before being transferred to mostly Mediterranean service in 1904. The name of the ship comes from the mountain range of the Carpathians.

In April 1912, she became famous for rescuing survivors of the rival White Star Line's RMS Titanic after the ship struck an iceberg and sank with a loss of at least 1,500 lives in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Carpathia's crew rescued 705 survivors from the ship's lifeboats.

Answering Titanic's calls of distress, she steamed through the night at high speed and at considerable risk, as the ship had to dodge numerous icebergs. Carpathia's lights were first spotted around 03:30 a.m., which greatly cheered the survivors.

As the lifeboats were brought alongside Carpathia, the survivors came aboard the ship by various means. Some were strong enough to climb up rope ladders; others were hoisted up in slings, and the children were hoisted in mail sacks. They were all aboard by 09:00 a.m. There were some scenes of joy as families and friends were reunited, but in most cases hopes died as loved ones failed to reappear.

The Carpathia was later sunk herself on 17 July 1918 after being torpedoed three times by the German submarine U-55 off the southern Irish coast with a loss of five crew members.