A Lost Cause

[The Perky Ent]

In Appendix A, it says

The last leaders of the Faithful, Elendil and his sons, escaped from the Downfall with nine ships, bearing a seedling of Nimloth, and the Seven Seeing-stones (gifts of the Elder to their House); and they were borne on the wind of a great storm and cast upon the shores of Middle-Earth

According to the quote, only the leaders of the faithful escaped to Middle-Earth. This brings up the question to which this thread was made: Were the rest of the Faithful lost? Nine ships left, but was it enough to take all the faithful with them. If not, it was a lost cause. And if they did in fact die, with the exception of those chosen by the leaders, the remaining Faithful would either have to have children with another species (which didn't happen), of have a really hard time building a kingdom. Since, by the time of The Last Alliance, the Kingdoms in Exile had a grand army, there must have been a great population. But with just nine ships, who's capacity isn't infinite, could they save all the Faithful, or abandon them to a death they didn't deserve?