239 F. 814 | 6th Cir. | 1917
The steamer M. T. Greene, owned by appellant, while towing the barge Allegheny, owned by the individual appellees, went upon a sand bar on the south shore of Lake Superior. The barge also grounded and was wrecked, the cargo becoming a total loss. The appeal is from a final decree adjudging the steamer solely at fault, for loss of both barge and cargo. The appellee insurance company is the insurer of the barge’s cargo.
We accept the findings of the District Judge as to the course and general features of the steamer’s navigation, based upon the testimony of her navigators. The substance of those conclusions is this: The steamer, which was loaded with lumber, left Duluth on June 4, 1913, with the barge in tow, likewise so loaded, and took the inside course between Keeweenaw Point and Gull Rock at about 4:30 o’clock on the afternoon of the next day, then taking a course southeast by east. At about 9:30 p. m., just after passing Stannard Rock (which lies to the eastward of the taken course), the weather became thick and foggy; there was, however, no wind to speak of. When the fog was encountered, speed was checked from 7 miles to about 6 miles per hour, and the same course followed until about 11:50 p. m., when it Was changed to east by north by one-half north. This latter course was followed until 6:10 a. m. of the 6th, when the course was changed to east, being continued until 8:45 a. m., when it was changed to southeast by east by three-fourths east. The weather continued thick and foggy. At about 9:30 a. m. the steamer picked up the Caribou whistle from the northerly. At 12‘:15 p. m. she ported a point for the purpose of running more to the southward to pick up the Crisp Point signal; Crisp Point being about 14 miles westerly of Whitefish Point, which is at the entrance of Whitefish Bay, the latter communicating with the head of St. Mary’s river. After sailing the last-stated course about 50 minutes, and thus at about 1:05 p. m., the Crisp Point signal was picked up. The steamer then starboarded a point, intending thereby to come back on the supposed Whitefish Point course, viz., southeast by east by three-fourths east, continuing on the latter course 1 hour and 25 minutes, and until about 2:30 p. m., when in the fog, which still continued, she went on a sand bar about 5 miles east of Crisp Point and 9 miles west of Whitefish Point. The barge also immediately ran on the bar,
There is no room for doubt that the steamer’s running aground resulted directly from her navigator’s mistaken belief that when she picked up the Crisp Point .signal she was about 9 miles to the northerly of that point, whereas in fact she was but about 2 miles away. This mistake as to location doubtless resulted from inexact knowledge of the actual speed at all times, as applied to the courses run. Had the steamer then been where her navigators thought she was, the change of course then made would have carried her safely past Whitefish' Point. In her actual location, the course taken was bound to fetch her up on the south shore before reaching that point. The suggestion that the mistake as to location was due to a deflection of the compass needle, caused by shore attraction, has no substantial basis in the record.
Numerous faults are charged against the steamer including the criticisms that she was not properly officered and manned; that she was negligent in proceeding at so nearly full speed in a fog; that she had no log, and thus no means of knowing accurately how far she was running on a given course; also that she was negligent, under the circumstances presented, in not taking soundings to ascertain her exact location.
“Storms are so common on Lake Superior and so often follow foggy weather, stranding so often results in the destruction of vessels by storm, that it seems to me that we must say that to strand may, and is likely to, subject to destruction by the waves.”
The case differs radically from Northwest Transportation Co. v. Boston Marine Ins. Co. (C. C.) 41 Fed. 793, cited by appellant,
The decree of the District Court is affirmed.
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