In re Cherokee Trawler Corp.

WALTER E. HOFFMAN, District Judge.

On April 9, 1956, the trawler Cherokee, owned by petitioner, Cherokee Trawler Corporation, left her home port at Hampton, Virginia, for the purpose of fishing off the North Carolina coast. The catch on the following day was good and the vessel drifted that night. The master of the Cherokee first learned of Northeast storm warnings at 6 A. M. on Wednesday, April 11. Fifteen minutes later he issued instructions to haul up the nets and return to Hampton Roads. Encountering a violent storm with heavy and freak seas the trawler was nearly *416capsized at approximately…