Question 1088656
First, let's see the distance travelled for the first ship

Distance1 = 12 Mile/hr*17 hours = 204 Miles.

Second distance is the one travelled of the second ship

Distance2 = 15 Mile/hr*12 hours =180 Miles.

as the first ship travelled to the east and the second ship travels to the north, the 204 miles and 180 miles are the legs of a rectangle triangle.

The distance is the hypotenuse of the triangle:

{{{distance = ( sqrt( 204^2 +280^2 )) }}} = 272.1 Miles

@natolino_