Kelley v. Thompson
District Court, D. Massachusetts
The schooner Romp, loaded with iron, and bound on a voyage from Boston to Jonesport in Maine, was run into and sunk a few miles outside of Thacher’s Island, Cape Ann, on the evening of March 16, 1866, by the schooner D. P.; and this libel was promoted by her owners for the damage. The night was very foggy, the wind about S. S. W.; the Romp was sailing on the starboard tack, with the wind free, heading about N. E. by E., and had no lights set.
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The schooner Romp, loaded with iron, and bound on a voyage from Boston to Jonesport in Maine, was run into and sunk a few miles outside of Thacher’s Island, Cape Ann, on the evening of March 16, 1866, by the schooner D. P.; and this libel was promoted by her owners for the damage. The night was very foggy, the wind about S. S. W.; the Romp was sailing on the starboard tack, with the wind free, heading about N. E. by E., and had no lights set. The D. P. was closehauled, on the port tack, heading about W. by S., with the red-and-green lights properly placed and. burning brightly. The Romp had…
1Opinion of the Court
LOWELL, District Judge.
Reasonable care and skill are expected of persons in charge of ships. The statute specifies some of the precautions proper to be taken by navigators, and leaves others, equally obligatory, to the common law of the sea. It is no bar to a recovery of damages in a case of this kind, that one of these precautions, whether-imposed by the statute, or having a different foundation, has been neglected, unless the neglect caused or contributed to the collision. Chamberlain v. Ward. 21 How. [62 U. S.) 548.
The evidence in this case, on both sides, shows that *the lights of the D.…
2Cited by1 opinion
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