Whitney Steamship Company, as Owner of the M/v Sam Laud, Cross-Appellant v. United States of America, Cross-Appellee

TIMBERS, Circuit Judge:

More than a decade and a half ago, then Chief Judge Aldrich of the First Circuit stated that his Court refused to be a party to adding to the Coast Guard’s honored-motto, “Semper Paratus” (Always Ready), the words “Interdum Prudens” (Sometimes Careful). United States v. Sandra & Dennis Fishing Corp., 372 F.2d 189, 197 (1 Cir.), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 836 (1967). That is the touchstone of the instant case so far as the principal appeal is concerned in which the United States seeks total exoneration for the conduct of the Coast Guard in this saga on Lake Erie outside…