Nathan Clifford

“ Sailing vessels approaching a steamer are required to keep their course on account of the correlative duty which is devolved upon the steamer to keep out of the way, in order that the steamer may known the position of the object to be avoided, and may not be led into error in her endeavor to comply with the requirement.
Under the rule that a steamer must keep out of the way, she must of necessity determine for herself and upon her own responsibility, independently of the sailing vessel, whether it is safer to go to the right or left, or to stop ”

“ Many considerations concur to show that all those engaged in navigating vessels upon the seas are bound to observe the nautical rules recognised and approved by the courts, in the management of their vessels on approaching a point where there is danger of collision. Those rules were framed and are administered to prevent such disasters and to afford security to life and property exposed to such dangers; and public policy, as well as the best interest of all concerned, requires that they should be constantly and rigidly enforced in all cases to which they apply. ”

“ An error committed by those in charge of a vessel under such circumstances, if the vessel was otherwise without fault, would not impair her right to recover for the injuries occasioned by the collision, for the plain reason that those who produced the peril and put the vessel in that situation would be chargeable with the error, and must answer for the consequences. ”

“ Extreme cases, such as are supposed, will rarely if ever occur, and in referring to them it must not be understood that the rule will be relaxed to any extent whatever in other cases to which it properly applies. ”

“ They do not apply to a vessel required to keep her course after the approach is so near that the collision is inevitable, and are equally inapplicable to vessels of every description, while they are yet so distant from each other that measures of precaution have not become necessary to avoid a collision. ”

“ Rules of navigation, such as have been mentioned, are obligatory upon vessels approaching each other, from the time the necessity for precaution begins, and continue to be applicable as the vessels advance, so long as the means and opportunity to avoid the danger remain. ”

“ Repeated decisions of this court have affirmed the doctrine here laid down, and carried it out to its logical conclusion, and in so many instances that the question cannot any longer be regarded as open to dispute. Accordingly, it was held in the case of the steamer Oregon v. Rocca et al., (18 How., 570,) that when a steamer approaches a sailing vessel, the steamer is required to exercise the necessary precautions to avoid a collision; and if this be not done, prima facie the steamer is chargeable with fault. ”