R. O'BRIEN & CO. v. SS VENTURA, 51-74
| Decision Date | 13 September 1954 |
| Docket Number | 51-83.,No. 51-74,51-74 |
| Citation | 130 F. Supp. 176 |
| Parties | R. O'BRIEN & CO., Inc. v. S. S. VENTURA, her engines, etc. R. O'Brien & Co., Inc., Petitioner for Limitation of Liability. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Bingham, Dana & Gould, Arthur J. Santry, Putnam, Bell, Dutch & Santry, Boston, Mass., for plaintiff.
The Texas Company, Thomas H. Walsh, Boston, Mass., for defendant.
On November 28, 1951, at approximately 5:25 P.M., a collision occurred between the Lynn, a 102 foot Dieselpowered steel hull fishing vessel, and the Ventura, a 503 foot 10,000 ton steel hull tanker. The Lynn was owned by R. O'Brien & Co., Inc., a Massachusetts corporation. The Ventura was operated by the Texas Company.
There are now at issue before the Court only the libel of R. O'Brien & Co., Inc. against the Ventura, and the cross-claim of the Ventura interests against R. O'Brien & Co., Inc., represented by the Texas Company's claim and answer in the Lynn limitation proceedings.
The Lynn, fully manned and in good condition, left the Boston Fish Pier at about 4:30 P.M. on November 28, 1951, bound for Georges Fishing Banks. The sun had set a short time previously. The running lights of the Lynn, consisting of the white stern light, white masthead light, red port sidelight and green starboard sidelight, were on. These could be seen normally a distance of at least five miles under the conditions then prevailing — clear weather, calm sea, light wind. Deck lights were on also. She was preceded and followed by other fishing craft destined for the same fishing area.
The Lynn proceeded outbound through North Broad Channel, keeping close to the line of buoys on her right hand side of the channel. At about 5:14 P.M. when she was abreast of No. 3 buoy, her master, Captain McNamara, left the pilothouse and checked the sidelights. At that time he saw the range lights of a vessel in President Roads, about a mile and a half astern. He returned to the pilothouse. The fishing vessel rounded No. 1 buoy close aboard, and headed so as to bring Graves Whistling Buoy slightly on her starboard bow. She was proceeding at a speed of between 8 and 9 knots. Captain McNamara stood in the starboard center window of the Lynn's pilothouse. Hayes, the mate, was standing in the port center window. A Mr. King was at the wheel.
The S. S. Ventura, a T-2 type tanker, left the Union Oil dock at Chelsea, Mass., in ballast, bound for the Texas Company Refinery at Eagle Point, New Jersey, drawing 20 feet forward and 21.1 feet aft. She proceeded out through North Broad Channel (a narrow channel under the Inland Rules) at a speed of 12½ to 13 knots. A licensed pilot, her master and chief officer were on the bridge. A quartermaster was at the wheel, and a seaman stood watch as lookout on the bow. In the vicinity of No. 7 buoy the Ventura overtook and passed two trawlers one of which was the M. C. Ballard. As she approached the Ballard, the Ventura blew a one-whistle signal to pass on the Ballard's starboard side, but received no answer. Those in the pilothouse of the Ballard did not hear the signal. Her Captain, however, who was on deck when the Ventura was about 1,000 feet astern, told the mate to answer the signal, and motioned him to bring the Ballard to port. The helmsman swung the Ballard left, and the tanker passed her about thirty to fifty feet away, "rolling" the Ballard as a result. The Ballard had not answered the Ventura's passing signal.
The Ventura made a gradual swing around No. 1 buoy to her right so as to bring Graves Whistler on her starboard bow. She swung to 73° which brought Graves Whistler only 2 degrees on her starboard bow. At that time the Lynn, which was on a course for the Whistler, and the Ventura were on narrowly converging courses.
When the Ventura was about 250 yards away from the Lynn a two-whistle signal was blown, indicating a desire to pass the Lynn on the latter's port side. That signal was not heard aboard the fishing vessel. Those inside the Ventura's pilothouse just before the collision were the pilot, Hodgdon, Captain Pederson, Chief Mate Lindbloom, and the helmsman Awyzic.
The bow lookout of the Ventura, seaman Grimes, testified that when the vessels were about 500 to 600 feet apart, he rang one bell. At that time the tanker was still on her gradual swing to the right. After the Ventura had swung far enough to bring the Lynn ahead of her, he rang three bells, indicating to the Ventura pilothouse that an object was dead ahead. He then rang two more sets of three bells each at intervals of a minute each, indicating that the Lynn was still dead ahead. He then rang "lots of jingles" on the bell until almost the moment of impact.
Aboard the Lynn, about seven minutes after the vessel had proceeded on her course from No. 1 buoy, Captain McNamara left the window at which he had been standing, and walked to the open door to his quarters immediately aft of the wheelhouse. He reached up on his bunk to get his cap, and heard a bell being rung. He signalled his engine room for slow speed ahead, opened the starboard door of the wheelhouse and saw nothing. He then crossed to the portdoor and looked out. He saw the bluff of the Ventura's bow coming over the Lynn's boat deck. He then rang "jingle" to the engine room for full speed ahead, told King to put the Lynn's wheel hard right, and helped him put the wheel over. He then felt the Lynn being pressed down stern first, her bow rising in the air.
The starboard side of the Ventura's flaring bow and the Lynn's port afterdavit first came in contact, pushing the Lynn's stern to starboard by the force of the impact and the Ventura's bow wave. The Lynn was swung to a position somewhat across the stem of the Ventura. The stem of the tanker then came in contact with the Lynn's port bulwark rail about thirty feet forward of the extreme stern (24 feet forward of the rudder post), cutting into the port side of the Lynn's hull with greater pressure as the Lynn turned over on her starboard beam ends. The Lynn swung around the bow of the Ventura, came clear on the port side of it, and was passed by the Ventura on the latter's port side.
When the Lynn heeled over to her starboard, seawater rushed into the pilothouse. King was knocked clear of the wheel. Captain...
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Texas Company v. R. O'BRIEN & CO.
...This proceeding followed. After the District Court had determined that the Ventura was solely at fault, R. O'Brien & Co. v. S.S. Ventura, D.C.Mass.1954, 130 F. Supp. 176, affirmed sub nom. Texas Co. v. R. O'Brien & Co., 1 Cir., 1955, 225 F.2d 280, the question of damages was referred to an ......