1. Where a collision between two vessels results from the fault
of both of them, a party sustaining injuries from the collision may
recover damages against both vessels, and they may be proceeded
against in the same libel.
2. The damages recovered in such case may be apportioned by the
decree equally between the two vessels, and at the same time the
right be reserved to the libellant to collect the entire amount of
either of them in case of the inability of the other to respond for
her portion.
This was a libel in admiralty by Ann Cavan to recover damages
for injuries sustained by her whilst a passenger on board the ferry
boat
D. S. Gregory, crossing the Hudson River, from a
collision, which occurred September 16th, 1866, between that boat
and the steamboat
George Washington. The ferry boat was at
the time making one of her regular trips from her slip at the foot
of Montgomery Street in Jersey City to her slip at the foot of
Desbrosses Street, in the City of New York. The
Washington
was an excursion boat, and was bound from the pier at the foot of
Christopher Street to Barclay Street in New York, intending to
proceed thence down the bay. The ferry boat was crossing the river
diagonally and moving at the rate of between nine and ten miles an
hour. The steamboat was going down the river at the rate of twelve
miles an hour, distant about two hundred yards from the piers in
New York. The collision took place in the morning, between the
hours of ten and eleven. The weather was clear at the time, and the
river in the vicinity of the collision quite free of boats of all
kinds. In the courts below and in this Court, each vessel
endeavored to throw the blame of the collision upon the other. The
district court and the circuit court held that the collision was
caused by the fault of both vessels; that each was endeavoring to
cross the bows of the other and to force the other to pass under
her stern. The libellant was at the time on her way to New York to
attend church, the day being Sunday.
Page 76 U. S. 514
The injuries she received from the collision were of the most
serious character, resulting in permanent disability. The district
court awarded her ten thousand dollars damages, to be recovered
against both vessels. The circuit court affirmed the decree, but
added to it that the damages should be equally apportioned between
the two vessels; that upon the payment by the claimants of one
vessel of one-half of the damages and costs, with interest and
charges, proceedings against her for the collection of the residue
should be stayed until execution for such residue against the
claimants of the other vessel was returned unsatisfied or until it
otherwise appeared that the libellant was unable to collect the
residue of them by process from the court. The decree also gave the
parties liberty to apply to the court, if occasion should require,
touching the enforcement of the decree.
The claimants of both vessels appealed to this Court.
MR. JUSTICE FIELD delivered the opinion of the Court.
The extent and character of the injuries sustained by the
libellant are not disputed, and we do not think the amount at which
her damages were assessed by the district court, and which was
approved by the circuit court, at all excessive. At the time the
collision occurred, the libellant was on her way to the City of New
York to attend public worship, and was seated in the ladies' cabin,
a few feet from the forward end. The bow of the
Washington
struck the ferry boat near where she was seated and passed through
the cabin, tearing up the planks and timbers and the inner
partition separating it from the track of the wagonway, carrying
the libellant through on to the track and hurling upon her the
loosened planks and timbers. Her left leg was broken, and the ankle
sprained. Both bones of the right leg received three distinct
fractures between the ankle and knee, and the lower part of the leg
bone was crushed. Her
Page 76 U. S. 515
right cheek and ear and the back of her head were cut, and
severe bruises were inflicted upon her body. From the injuries
received, she was unable for several weeks to assist herself, and
required constant attention, suffering all the time intense pain.
At the trial in the district court, more than a year after the
accident occurred, she could not move without pain, and it is the
opinion of the surgeon who attended her that she is permanently
disabled. We do not think, therefore, that any just objection can
be made to the amount found.
The principal question made in the courts below was whether the
libellant was entitled to recover against both of the vessels, or
only against one of them, and if only against one of them, which
one; and this question depends for its solution upon the further
question, whether the collision resulted from the fault of only one
of the vessels, or from the fault of both of them.
The libellant alleges that the collision was caused by the
negligence, want of skill, and improper conduct of the persons
navigating both of the vessels.
The claimants of the
Gregory contend that the collision
was caused by the attempt of the
Washington to continue
her course and cross the bow of the
Gregory after the
latter, as they allege, had ported her helm so as to head to the
New York shore and pass to the right of the
Washington,
and had blown two blasts of her whistle, at short intervals between
them, as signals to the
Washington of the course she
intended to take.
The claimants of the
Washington, on the other hand,
impute the collision to the deviation of the
Gregory from
her usual course, which they contend would have taken her under the
stern of the
Washington, and her attempt to cross the bow
of the
Washington after the latter had indicated, as they
allege, by two blasts of her whistle, that she was going ahead of
the
Gregory.
We have looked into the evidence presented by the parties with
much care. As in nearly all collision cases, it is in some respects
conflicting, but in our judgment shows that
Page 76 U. S. 516
both vessels were in fault. The collision occurred in open day,
between the hours of ten and eleven in the morning. The weather at
the time was clear, and the vessels were in full sight of each
other from a distance of several hundred yards until they collided.
The
Washington was moving at the rate of twelve miles an
hour, going down the river, about two hundred yards from the piers
on the New York side. The
Gregory was moving at the rate
of between nine and ten miles an hour, crossing the river
diagonally. Neither of the vessels paid any attention to the
signals given by the other, but each continued on her course
without waiting for a response or coming to an understanding with
the other vessel as to her course, and neither attempted to slacken
her speed until too late to prevent the collision. We agree with
the circuit court that neither pilot nor master of either vessel
could have been taken by surprise at the meeting of the vessels, as
each must have been that the courses adopted and pursued
necessarily led to it, and also that those courses were
deliberately pursued by the pilot and master of each with the
purpose of compelling the other vessel to change her course.
We do not feel called upon to vindicate our conclusions by
citations from the evidence, which fills over one hundred and
thirty printed pages of the record. The citations would illustrate
no principle, and serve no useful purpose.
Both vessels being in fault, both were liable to the libellant
and both could be proceeded against in the same libel. The damages
were properly apportioned equally between the two vessels, the
right being reserved to the libellant to collect the entire amount
of either of them in case of the inability of the other to respond
for her portion.
*
Decree affirmed.
* The Steamer New Philadelphia, 1 Black 62.
