wreck

Shipwreck is a matter of revenue. In a legal wreck, the goods must come on shore. Fetsam, flotsam and ligan, are not matters of revenue, and are cognizable in the Admiralty; but wreck is determinable by the Common Law.

At common law. Such goods as after a shipwreck are cast upon the land by the sea, and, as lying within the territory of some county, do not belong to the jurisdiction of the admiralty, but to the common law. 2 Inst. 167; 1 Bl. Comm. 290. Goods cast ashore from a wrecked vessel, where no living creature has escaped from the wreck alive; and which are forfeited to the crown, or to persons having the franchise of wreck. Cowell.

In American law. Goods cast ashore i by the sea, and not claimed by the owner within a year, or other specified period; and which, in such case, become the property of the state. 2 Kent, Comm. 322. In maritime law, A ship becomes a wreck when, in consequence of injuries received, she is rendered absolutely unnavigable, or unable to pursue her voyage, without repairs exceeding the half of her value. Wood v. Insurance Co., 6 Mass. 479, 4 Ain. Dec. 163; Collard v. Eddy, 17 Mo. 355; Baker v. Hoag, 7 N. Y. 558, 59 Am. Dec. 431; Peele v. Insurance Co., 19 Fed. Can. 104; Lacaze v. State, 1 Add. (Pa.) 99.

— Wreck commissioners. persons appointed by the English lord chancellor under the merchant shipping act, 1876, (section 29,) to hold investigations at the request of the board of trade into losses, abandonments, damages, and casualties of or to ships on or near the coast of the United Kingdom, whereby loss of life is caused. Sweet.

In American law. Goods cast ashore by the sea, and not claimed by the owner within a yeaiy or other specified period, — which become the property of the state.

In English law. Goods which, after a shipwreck at sea, are by the sea cast upon the land; goods so cast ashore in cases where no creature has escaped alive, forfeited to the crown.

In old English law. Anything thr;own upon the land by the sea; a thing thrown out of a vessel, with the intention of thi'owing it away, and afterwards found; a thing derelict

i By the ancient common law, was where any ship was lost at sea, and the cargo or goods were thrown upon the land. 2 Such goods as, after a shipwreck, are cast upon land by the sea, and left there, within some county.3 A ship beconles a wreck when, in consequence of injury received, she is rendered absolutely unnavigable, or unable to pursue her voyage, without repairs exceeding the half of her value.* That " admiralty has no jurisdiction of the wrecli of the sea " does not refer to property deemed wreek or stupwrecked, in the sense of the maritime or commercial law, but to " wreck of the sea " in the purely technical common-law sense, ^ The act of December 23, 1852 (K. S. § 4136), authorizes the issue of a certificate of register or enrollment for any vessel built in a foreign country, but wrecked in the United States, and purchased or repaired by a citizen thereof. " Wrecked ". here applies to a vessel disabled and rendered unfit for navigation, whether this condition has been caused by the winds or the waves, by stranding. Are, e:splosion of boilers, or other casualty." At common law, to constitute a legal wreck, the goods must come to land. If they continue at sea they are jetsam, flotsam, or ligan.' qq. v. Wreck, by the common law of England, belonged to the king or his grantee; but within a year and a daj- the true owner could claim it or the proceeds.^ Here, sea-shore rights were vested in the Colonies; and wreck belongs to the owner of the shore where it is cast, as against a stranger claimant.®. The States may by legislation regulate property ii) wrecks.'** Stealing or destroying money or goods from or belonging to any vessel, boat, or raft, in distress, lost, or stranded, or willfully obstructing the escape of any person endeavoring to save his life from such vessel, etc., or holding out any false light or extinguishing any true light, with intent to bring any vessel, etc., on the sea into danger, distress, or shipwreck, are felonies, punishable by fine up to five thousand dollars and with as much as ten years imprisonment." See Admiralty; Bilged; Loss, 2; Mabitime; Salvage; Stkandino. ' Wrack, what is cast ashore, drift: A. S. wreccan, to drive, force. 2 [1 Bl. Com. 890; Sid. 106. 8 Baker v. Hoag, 7 N. Y. 658 (1853), Jewett, J. • Wood V. Lincoln, &c. Ins. Co., 6 Mass. 483 (1810), Parsons, C. J.; 3 Kent, 333-»4. s United States v. Coombs, 12 Pet. *r7 (1838), Story, J. « Wrecked Vessel, 15 Op. Att.-Gen. 402 (1877), Devens, A.-G. See also The Mohawk, 3 Wall. 570 (1865). » 1 Bl. Com. 292. e 1 Bl. Com. 290-92; 12 Pet. 72. 8 Baker v. Bates, 13 Pick. 257 (1832); 113 Mass. 337. 10 The Schooner Tilton, 5 Mas. 479 (1830).

Goods cast ashore from a wreck under such circumstances as to be forfeit to the Crown or State.

A derelict or broken vessel, or portions of one, or cargo from one, cast by the sea upon the land. Most of the definitions given in the dictionaries seem, however, to exclude a vessel. Wreck applies to property cast upon land by the sea. Things are not wrecks in the legal sense, so long as they remain at sea. A sunken vessel is not a wreck, but derelict. Baker v. Hoag, 7 A^. Y. 555. Wreck of the sea. The expression that " the admiralty has not jurisdiction of the wreck of the sea," does not refer to property, deemed wreck or shipwrecked property, in the sense of the maritime or commercial law; but to " wreck of the sea," in the purely technical common-law sense, such as constituted a royal franchise and part of the revenue of the crown in England, and often granted, as such a royal franchise, to lords of manors. United States V. Coombs, 12 Pet. 72. Wreck means such goods as after a shipwreck are cast up by the sea and left there within some county. By the common law, all wrecks belonged to the crown; but it was usual to seize wrecks to the king's use, only when no owner could be found. The common law was modified by statute in the reign of Henry I, who granted that if any should be no wreck; and afterwards, by the statute of Westminster the First (3 Edw. I.), ch. 4, if a man or dog or cat escaped alive, the goods shall be no wreck, but the sheriff shall keep the same (or, if perishable, their value) for a year and a day, in order to restore them to the rightful owner, or his representatives, establishing their claim to them; and still later, by the statute 27 Edw. IIL ch. 13, if a ship is lost on the shore, and the goods come to land, they are to be at once returned to the owners, they paying a reasonable reward for their salvage. Brown.

mar. law. A wreck (called in law-latin wreccum maris, and in law French wrec de mer) sigand left there within some county, so as not to belong to the jurisdiction of the admiralty, but to the common law. 2 Inst. 167; Bract. 1. 3,c. 3; Mirror, c. 1,8. 13, and c. 3. Butifa human being, or even an animal, as a dog, cat, hawk, &c. escape alive from the ship, or if there be any marks upon the goods by which they may be known again, they are not at common law considered as wrecked. 5 Burr. 2738, 9; 2 Chit. Com. Law, c. 6, p. 102; 2 Kent, Com. 292; 32 Vin. Ab. 535; 1 Bro. Civ. Law, 238; Park, Ins. Index, h. t.; Molloy, Jur. Mar. Index, h. t.