Roger B. Taney

“ They would look for no other, nor expect to find a vessel in their way without one, and might be misled as to the exact position of the vessel, if a light of a different character was shown or hung up in a different place. And as the light of the brig (if she had one) differed in character and place from the one which the regulations and usages of the port required, and which incoming vessels would look for, she committed a fault which justly subjects her to damages for the collision. ”

“ She had a right to suppose that a proper look-out would be kept by the steamboat, and that she would not be led into dangers from which no effort on her part would enable her to escape. And she was brought into this dangerous proximity to the James Gray, and then cast loose, under circumstances which rendered a collision inevitable; and she was driven against the vessel at anchor altogether by the direction and impulse which she received from the controlling power of the steamboat, and not by any act of negligence or mismanagement on her part. ”

“ The place where the brig was anchored, and the character of the light they were about to display, made it the more imperatively the duty of the officers to see that it was securely and properly fastened, so as to present the bright sides to the incoming vessels, as she was in most danger of being run into by them. ”

“ Yet, upon the evidence before the court, we do not think the James Gray ought to be regarded as in fault, by remaining at anchor in the harbor beyond the time limited in the city ordinance. She was seen there by the harbor-master day after day, without being ordered to depart; nor did he seek to inflict the penalty. The object of this regulation was obviously to prevent this thoroughfare from being crowded by vessels at anchor, which would make it inconvenient or hazardous to vessels coming into the port. ”

“ So also ships at sea, from storm or darkness of the weather, may come in collision with one another, without fault on either side; and in that case, each must bear its own loss, although one is much more injured than the other. ”

“ She endeavored to avoid her by putting her helm hard to starboard, in order to pass on the same side and in the wake of the tug; her speed, however, from the tide and the impulse she had received from the steamboat, was then about six knots an hour; and she reached the brig before her course could be sufficiently changed to avoid a collision. The rigging of the John Fraser became entangled in the bowsprit of the brig which it carried away, and caused other damage to the vessel to a serious amount.
So far the facts are undisputed; we come now to the points in controversy. ”