Sheldrake v. Chatfield

¶1Salvage—Towage—Steamship with Broken Shaft.

¶2On the night of the 26th of October, 1891, the steamship Chatfield, of 1,904 tons register, and loaded with 7,400 bales of cotton, when about 53 miles out from Cape Henry, broke her shaft and lost her propeller. A strong wind was blowing at the time, which increased during the next day to a gale. There is also a strong cub-rent in that part of the ocean, setting south, and the Chatfield was carried to a point some 70 miles from Cape Henry, and off soundings. On the following morning she set signals of distress, and about 11 o’clock was approached by the cargo steamship Brixham, of 400 tons net register, and loaded deep with iron, which with great difficulty got hawsers to her, and in 9 hours towage against the wind, her hawser parting 3 times, brought her within 43 miles of Cape Henry, and into 16 or 17 fathoms of water, where the Chatfield anchored. The Brixham remained with her all night, and in the morning, the gale increasing, the Chatfield signaled the Brixham to go to port for additional help, with which request the Brixham complied. Thereafter the passenger steamship City of Augusta came up, to which the Chatfield exhibited signals of distress; she at this time dragging her anchor and drifting towards the coast. The City of Augusta, with great difficulty, and danger of fouling her propeller and disabling herself, got hawsers to the Chat-field, and towed her into Hampton Roads; the service lasting about 12 hours. The Chatfield, with her cargo and freight, was worth about $435,000, the Brixham *480$80,000, and the City of Augusta $440,000. Each of the salving vessels was damaged to the extent of some $5,000. Held, that the Brixham should recover $12,-500, and the City of Augusta $15,000; the same to cover» both salvage and damage claims.

¶3In Admiralty. Salvage.

¶4EPITOME OF THE EVIDENCE.

¶5First. In the Case of the Brixham. The British steamer Chatfield, bound from Galveston to Liverpool with cotton, put in at Newport News for coal in October last. On the night of the 26th of that month, she proceeded from the coaling port on her voyage, and had made' about 58 miles out from Cape Henry, when, at 11 o’clock, she broke her shaft and lost her propeller. She was then at the place on the chart marked “A.” She was under sails during the rest of that night, and in the morning hoisted signals of distress. McFee, master of the Chatham, fixes the position of the steamer that morning at the place on the chart marked “B.” She was taken in tow by the steamer Brixham, bound from Philadelphia to Velasco, Tex., which had her in tow for 9 hours, and brought her within 43 miles of Cape Henry. She then east anchor in 17 fathoms of water, and continued at anchor during the night of the 27th; the Brixham remaining near her. On the morning of the 28th, she gave signals to the Brixham to go into port for another tug, with which request the Brixham complied. McFee declares that the Chatfield was then at the place marked “C” on the chart. 'She again put out signals of distress, and between 10 and 11 o’clock on the morning of the 28th was taken in tow by the freight and passenger ocean line steamer City of Augusta, bqund on schedule time from Savannah to New York, and towed into Hampton Eoads. Two libels against the Chatfield for salvage have resulted from these occurrences,— one of them brought in behalf of the Brixham, and the other in behalf of the City of Augusta. The two cases have been heard together, as the libels are against the same ship for services, one of which was in immediate sequence of the other, and as the evidence taken is in part common to both cases.

¶6First, as to the libel of the Brixham. The master and two mates were examined in behalf of the Chatfield. Her engineer also testified, but on points not controverted. In substance, the testimony was as follows:. The Chatfield is a steel steamer, 1,904 tons in measurement, 314 feet long, 40 feet in beam, schooner rigged, with two masts, no topmasts, a foresail, a mainsail, and fore and main staysails, and with triple expansion engines. She had on board upwards of 7,400 {mies of cotton,, weighing 2,000 tons, and a supply of coal for her voyage; the ship and cargo probably weighing about 4,000 tons. The value of the ship was $130,000; of the cargo, $297,000; and she had earned one third of an aggregate freight of $20,863. It does not appear how numerous her crew was, only three of whom testified on the disputed facts of the case.

¶7*481McFee, master, says:

¶8“After the accident at 11 p. m. on the night of the 26th of October, there’ being no wind, we let .the sails lay, and waited till morning. Sighted the Brixham at half past 10 to 11 a. h., and the Brixham came up about noon. We were then about 48 miles from Cape Henry. There was afresh N. N. W. *482breeze and moderate sea. In the early part of the night before, the wind had been light from S. W.—very light—and the sea smooth. At noon, when the Brixham came up, the depth of sea was 17 fathoms. The mate says 21 fathoms. As to hawsers, the Chatfield had the full requirements of Lloyds. On the morning before the Brixham neared us, the wind came afresh breeze, and continued that way, once a little stronger, throughout the towing; at no time more than a moderate sea. The place where our shaft broke was at ‘A,’ marked on the chart exhibited in this case. Upon the Brixham coming up, it was settled by signals that services were to be left to arbitration.”

¶9*481

¶10*482McFee gives no description of the preparations for towing, but his log says: “We got lines to him, and he commenced towing; also got his wire hawser fast to us, and we set sails.” All three of the Chatfield’s witnesses say that the towing began at 1 p. m. McFee says that at that time Cape Henry bore W. by N. half N.; that at 7:30 p. m. he let go all sails, and split a good many of them. He says the hawsers parted three times,—first about 3 p. m., then next about 4, and the last about 7:30, p. m. After this the Chatfield let down her anchor. At the parting of hawsers about 4 p. m. , the Brixham came up on the lee of the Chatfield, when there was a collision, inflicting trifling damage upon the Chatfield.' McFee ascribes the partings of the hawsers to the bad steering of the tug, in veering first to one side, and then to the other, which put undue strain alternately upon one and the other hawser. On the night of the 27th, after the Chatfield went to anchor, the Brixham remained, steaming around her all night. On the morning McFee signaled her to go to Norfolk for another tug, thinking the Brixham unable to bring her into port. McFee says: “My object in sending him was to have all means possible to get the ship in in case he would send a tug which would come. If I got anything to tow me in, I thought certainly I should meet him coming out.” McFee considered himself safe when the' Brixham was sent in for a tug. At that time the City' of Augusta had come in sight. Cape Henry then bore N. W. by W., and was 48 miles distant.

¶11Logan, the second mate of the Chatfield, testified very much in accordance with the master. He was the only one on the Chatfield who took soundings. Of the weather and sea, he says:

¶12“The whole time from the morning of the 27th to the morning of the 28th the direction of the wind was N. N. W. It was a fresh breeze, blowing about the same the whole time, with the wind and sea nothing at all. The night •of the 27th was a beautiful, clear, starlight night, with not the slightest appearance of a squall. When the Brixham came up on the morning of the 27th, the weather was fair, with a fresh breeze and clear, and with a moderate sea.”

¶13Burn, the first mate of the Chatfield, says:

¶14“There was an ordinary breeze from N. N. W. The weather throughout the whole towing was just an ordinary fresh breeze. With the wind that way, the sea cannot rise, because the wind is off the land, so there cannot possibly be any sea. In our ship there was hardly a motion of her. The passing of hawsers could have been done easily, by lowering a boat,—very easily. The Brixham was very badly handled, for first she was down broad *483on the port bow, and then up to starboard again. It was impossible for us to keep after her. ”

¶15It is stated in evidence that the Chatfield’s free board was 17 feet; that is to say, that she presented above the water that much surface to the wind. The Brixham had only 19 inches of free board.

¶16On the part of the Brixham, the master, the two mates, the engineer, the fireman, two seamen or deck hands, and the cook,—eight in number,—constituting, I suppose, the entire crew, were examined. This ship was of 628 gross and 400 net tons; in measurement was 193 feet long and 27 feet beam. She was worth $60,000, had on a cargo of iron valued at $20,000, and was under charter for a freight from Philadelphia to Velasco, Tex., of $3,200. She left Philadelphia shortly after 10 o’clock on the morning of the 26th October, passed out of the capes of Delaware after nightfall, and passed Fenwick Island light on her starboard beam at 9:45 p. m. Sheldrake, master, testifies that his course from there was about due south, that his steamer’s speed was 9 miles, and that he went along with a current and the wind in his favor, making 10 to 10$ knots an hour. The wind was 30 to 38 miles an hour from sundown on the 26th to 10 at night, and afterwards increased to 40 to 42 miles, becoming, on the morning of the 27th, a stiff gale, causing a high sea, which overflowed his decks. He sighted the Chatfield at 9:30 A. m., about 6 miles to eastward, and got to her a few minutes after 10. Chatfield asked by signals what he expected, and he answered “Arbitration.” He then came close to the ship, and was told to take her hawser. He backed up under her lee side, heaving her a line from his steel hawser, and she heaving him a line from her Manilla hawser. Both were fortunately caught. One was run from her starboard bow to his starboard quarter, and the other, in like manner, from port bow to port quarter. He passed them through his stern chocks to big iron bits in the bow, but could not place them just as he would have liked, because of the sea breaking over his deck. He had taken soundings with a 30-fathom line at 4 a. m., and again at 8 a., m., and found no bottom. He started ahead for Norfolk, towing on the two hawsers, at probably about 20 minutes to 11. Ashe was mo ving, while towing about N. N. W., moving up towards N., which put him within about three points of the wind, he took in his sails, and the Chatfield took in hers also, following suit. The Chatfield sheered so much from her bad steering that it caused his steamer to veer, and put too great a strain upon the hawsers,—first upon one, and then upon the other. His steel hawser parted about 1:30 p. m. , and he went ahead on the Manilla hawser, which also parted about 4 p. m. When this happened, he went up on the lee side of the Chatfield, and was in collision with her, by her coming down against him, causing very considerable damage to his steamer. Having again succeeded in making fast the Manilla hawser, he again went ahead, and continued the towing until 7:30 at night, when this hawser again parted, in consequence of the sheering of the Chatfield. The Chatfield then went to anchor in 16 or 17 fathoms water, and the Brixham steamed around her all night. In towing he moved from 3 to *4843½ miles an hour, and made a distance in all of about 28 miles, bringing the Chatfield to within 43 miles of Cape Henry. The towing lasted nine hours, less one hour consumed in the, trouble with the parted hawsers. This witness marks “Y” on the chart exhibited with this opinion as the place where he left the Chatfield. He had and has no doubt that he could have taken her into port on the 28th.

¶17Henze, the cook, besides giving other testimony corroborating that of the master, says:

¶18“The Brixham had the Chatfield under tow by 11:20 a. m. on the 27th. The sea was pretty rough that morning. The main deck was full of water all the time. It was a very high sea, and continued so until next day about 10. While the towing was going on, the sea was very high, and, by coming down with sea on, parted the hawsers. The Chatfield was high up above the water, and we low, and deep loaded. When the collision happened, she smashed right down upon our stern; smashed the cabin in. Her starboard stern smashed the side in, ” etc.

¶19Thompson, seaman, says, among other things:

¶20“We got a hawser out about between 10 and 11 o’clock of the 27th. We got her in tow about 11. We to wed her till about 25 minutes past 7 at night, when the rope broke. The wind was northerly and northwesterly on our starboard quarter,—pretty heavy wind, and pretty heavy sea on. The wire hawser parted first, after dinner some time, and then the Manilla hawser, parted. When we first met the Chatfield in the morning, she had fore and aft sails on. She took them down when the captain spoke to her, and did not put them up again while we had her in tow. It was a heavy sea on, and, through the night of the 27th, snowy and squally. The speed of the Brixham during the towing was three and a half to four knots, after my own way of judging.”

¶21Olsen, seaman, says, among other things:

¶22“I went on at-12 h. on the 27th. We were towing the .Chatfield when I went to the wheel. The wind was to'north and west, and there was a pretty heavy sea in the morning. The decks were full of water, which was going into cabins and everywhere. The Brixham had much difficulty in towing the Chatfield, on account of the weather and heavy sea on. The wire hawser parted after dinner, and we were called out on deck. Some time in the afternoon the Manilla hawser parted. We passed ropes again, and towed tier until between 7 and 8 o’clock, when the hawser parted again. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and a heavy sea on; raining in the afternoon. We laid around the Chatfield all the night of the 27th, and left about 8 in the morning for port.”

¶23Tibland, fireman, says:

¶24“After we got our dinner that morning [27th] at half past eleven, I went on deck. We then had the Chatfield in tow, There was a heavy sea and a gale of wind.” •

¶25Currie, engineer, says, among other things:

¶26“When we stopped the engines on nearing the Chatfield, it was half past 10 in the morning of 27th. We proceeded ahead at 11 o’clock. We stopped again about 4 in the evening, and was in tow again at 4:30, and towed till a quarter to 8 that night. We were running around the Chatfield all that night, working the engines, as ordered from deck. Next morning at about 8 went *485ahead, with engines at full speed. From Philadelphia down to where we stopped, near the Chatfield, our speed had been 8Jto 9 knots. While towing the Chatfield we were going through .water at a speed of about3§ knots. The wind was pretty bad. The sea was washing right over us. The Chatfield had her sails up when she was flying signals in the morning. She took her sails down when she was in tow. The average speed of Brixham through the water in ordinary weather is 9| to 10 knots. ”

¶27Allen, first mate, says, among other things:

¶28■ “We had Fenwick Island light abeam at 9:45 on night of 26th. Course south all night, till 8 o’clock in the morning, when it was S. quarter W. She made an average of 9 knots during the night. Called captain’s attention to Chatfield about 9:30 A. h., on the 27th. She was about 6 knots from us, southward and westward, four or five miles west from our course. She had up three balls, as signals of distress, calling for help. She had her sails up before we took her in tow. She hauled them down afterwards, and did not hoist them agam during the towing. We had her in tow about half past 10 to quarter to 11. The weather was nasty, blowing a northwest gale of wind; sea running very heavy, filling us with water fore and aft, all through the towing. I took soundings that morning close to 8. Didn’t find any bottom with 30 fathoms of line. Soundings were again made about the time the Chatfield was taken in tow, and got no bottom. About noon, made soundings myself, and yet no bottom. I took an observation then, and found latitude 36° 23' H. During the towing the Brixham made two and a half to three miles an hour. I attribute the bad towing to the bad steering of the Chatfield. The hawsers were nearly parallel, and she ought to have steered straight after us; otherwise, the strain would be all on one hawser or the other, which made it more liable to part than if the strain was kept on both. The effect was, from the Chatfield being five limes larger and heavier than the Brixham, that the ship towed took the tug in charge. If she had followed the tug, I have no doubt that the Brixham would have taken her right in out of the storm. The failure to do so was owing to the bad steering of the Chatfield, and the bad state of the weather, wind, and sea. The weather and sea were both very violent, with heavy squalls of wind, and rain, snow, and sleet during the night of the 27th. The Chatfield did not have sails hoisted at any time during the towing. She let go her anchor at the end of towing, in soundings varying from 16 to 17 fathoms. During the towing our progress was 2J- to 3 miles an hour, to the H. H. W. There was no drifting during the towing. During the whole of the 26th, we -were running to the southward in a northwest gale of wind. There was also a northwest gale of wind on the 27th. Statements in our engineer’s log to the contrary are not true. Engineers’ logs are not authority in regard to weather. The Brixham is considered a fast boat for a small one, and very strong and staunch, which is proved by her breaking the hawsers on the occasion of the towing without tearing her bits out or straining herself. The wind moderated on the morning of the 28th, but, as it had blown a gale all during the night, with very heavy sea, and continued to do so up to daylight, the sea had not gone down, and was still very rough. There is never any trouble in passing hawsers in a light breeze and moderate sea. It was the gale and the high sea on the 27th that made the difficulty with us. It was out of the question to think of lowering a boat. I have been in a boat a good deal myself, and in a good many kinds of seas,—I have been whaling for three years,—and I would not have taken one of those whale boats, which are better than almost any ship carries out of Hew York,—I wouldn’t have done that on that day for the Chatfield nor the Brixham combined, and their cargoes chucked in. When we parted the Manilla hawser, our only chance was to go to leeward of the Chatfield to get to her;

¶29*486she being a larger ship than we, showing more side out of the water, and the wind blowing very strong. At that time it was blowing her two miles to our one. If we had gone to windward of her, we wouldn’t have got any where near her. The leeward was the proper side for our small tug.”

¶30The signal service report of the weather at Cape Henry on the 27th and 28th October last shows the wind to have been as follows:

¶31

¶32The signal service classification of winds is as follows:

¶33Light wind, 1 to 2 miles an hour.

¶34Gentle wind, 3 to 5 “ “ “

¶35Fresh, 6 to 14 “ “ “

¶36Brisk, 15 to 24 “ ¡‘ “

¶37High or strong, 25 to 39 “ “ “

¶38Gale, 40 to 59 “ “

¶39Storm, - 60 to 79 “ “

¶40Hurricane, - 80 to 150 “ “ ”

¶41Sheldrake’s judgment was, on hearing the signal service report of the velocity of the wind at Cape Henry read to him, as above, that the wind was stronger out to sea than at the cape. This report, reinforced by the testimony of Sheldrake, shows that all through the night of the 26th a high or strong wind prevailed; that it increased to a gale about 11 o’clock A. m. on the 27th; that it blew a gale throughout the towing *487of the Brixham, and through the night of the 27th, and abated only by slight degrees, and very gradually, between 1 a. m. and noon on the 28th, at which last hour it was still 25 miles an hour. The Brixham files bills for repairs, damages, and outlays resulting from her service, amounting to $5,000.

¶42Second. As to the City of Augusta. The Chatfield was taken in tow by the City of Augusta about 10:40 a. m. on the 28th. The latter ship was of 2,870 tons measurement, was worth $800,000, had on a cargo worth $134,000, and had aboard 19 passengers. Her speed is 14 miles an hour. Her master, Catharine, says that in passing Hatteras, early on the morning of the 28th October, 1891, he encountered a northerly gale of 40 to 45 miles an hour, with a strong sea; so much so that it was necessary to put a governor on the engine. As he came north, the' sea increased, and he could make only seven miles an hour. About breakfast time he discovered a vessel four points on his starboard bow, and on using his glasses found that she was giving out no smoke or steam, and was flying signals saying she wanted a tow, and showing three balls saying they had no command of the steamer. On nearing the Chatfield, he found she was lying at anchor, and sheering heavily from one side to the other. Though he used a great deal of caution, yet, in getting her heaving lines aboard, she took a heavy sheer, striking him abaft the main rigging, port side, doing him considerable damage, although the blow was lessened by his giving the jingle bell, and going ahead at full speed. He had great difficulty, attended by much danger to his ship, in getting a hawser properly adjusted. Tried heaving lines twice without success, and succeeded finally by using a buoy, and having it caught from the Chatfield by grappling hooks; the wind and sea being such during the time as to put him in risk of fouling his propeller with the hawser, which would have been fatal to both ships in the condition in which they were. During the time of getting out the hawser, the wind was blowing 35 miles an hour, with quite a high sea,—so high that the Chatfield, riding at anchor, was pitching her shaft hole entirely out of the water, so that we could see it. It took two hours to get the line on board. The wind was N. by E.; and, after getting the hawser, he had to tow a considerable distance around by a long circle to get on his course. After towing into within a mile of Cape Henry, and after the Chatfield had taken on a pilot, the hawser parted, subjecting him again to the risk of fouling his propeller. He again had a good deal of difficulty in getting his hawser to the Chatfield, owing to the strong tide, but succeeded, and brought her into Hampton Roads. When he picked up the Chatfield in the morning, she bore N. W., a little W. from Cape Henry, and was distant about 53 miles. She must have been drifting, from the way she was sheering about; it being evident the anchor was not holding the ship. The anchor was of a kind he had never seen before,—a long-shank, with a little claw on the end of it, not more than two feet long; and it was evident to his mind that in a sandy bottom it was impossible for that anchor to keep that ship from running ashore. She was drift*488ing, and, if she had received no help, would have gone upon the beach anywhere between Nags’ head and Hatteras. She was then 40 miles from Nags’ head and 47 from Wimble shoals. With the wind blowing as strong as it did that morning, the current there being two miles an hour, she would have drifted with that anchor down at least a mile or two an hour, and five mi^es if the anchor had not held. She would have gone upon the beach in eight hours. The depth of water where he took the Chatfield in tow was scant 18 fathoms. The manner in which she sheered, first on one side, and then on the other, when he first neared her, proved that she was dragging her anchor. When he first came up .to the Chatfield the wind was blowing 80 to 85 miles an hour; so hard that he could not keep his ship in position ahead of her. No attempt was made to pass hawsers by lowering a boat; it would have been too dangerous to be attempted, and was not thought of. To the same effect was the testimony of other members of the crew of the Augusta who were examined. The bills of lading and insurance policies of the Augusta at the time of this service gave her the right to assist ships in distress.

¶43The three officers of the Chatfield, heretofore mentioned, testify in substance as follows: McEee, master, says, as of the time on the morning of the 28th when the City of Augusta neared the Chatfield, that there was not a heavy northerly gale, nor anything approaching it, but only a strong to fresh wind and a moderate sea. The Augusta came up to him about 9 a. m., on his weather side. They missed getting the line the first time, and also the second time, but the third time she came up under the bow, and he got his hawser aboard of her, and, as soon as the hawser was fast, he tripped his anchor, and she slewed around and towed away. He could have passed-his hawser by a small boat, but there was no necessity for it. The Augusta was handled in a most seamanlike manner, and there was no trouble in getting the hawser on board. The towing commenced at 11:30, and they made about 8 knots an hour, and came into the capes, arriving at half past 5, the towing having lasted about 6 hours. The-hawser appliances which he gave to the’Augusta was a large wire hawser, attached to his chain cable, which veered out about 45 fathoms of cable with the wire.’ The Augusta started ahead, after he got the pilot on board off Cape Henry, with a little too much speed, and carried away his wire hawser at the point where it was fast to her stern. He thereupon let go his anchor, and gave out 15 fathoms of cable, to hold the ship in position. He then hauled in his hawser, put another bend on it, to make fast with, whereupon the Augusta came around again, and steamed up and passed her line, and took his hawser again, and, after some trouble with' his chain cable and anchor, proceeded on and went into Hampton Roads. Half an hour after first taking him in tow, the Augusta signaled him to put up his sails, and, the wind being N. N. W., allowing the sails to draw well, he did so. The service of the Augusta lasted between 9 a. m. and 8:30 p. m. of the 28th. The towing commenced at 11:30. There was no peril or danger to her in the service over the ordinary peril of taking a ship in tow at *489sea. There was no extra risk. The danger was very small. If there had been extra danger, the Augusta would have lowered a boat to run the lines. The mates of the Chatfield testify substantially in accordance with the testimony of McFee, the master. The City of Augusta files claims for costs, losses, and damages resulting from her service, amounting to about $5,000.

¶44Whitehurst & Hughes, (William W. Goodrich, of counsel,) for the Brixham.

¶45Sharp & Hughes, for the City of Augusta.

¶46Richard Walker, for the Chatfield.