The T.J. Hooper

Facts

In March 1928, the Northern Barge Company's barges No. 17 and No. 30 loaded coal at Norfolk, Virginia, for New York. Two tugs of Eastern Transportation Co., the Montrose and the Hooper, each towed three barges, with the lost barge at the end. The weather was fair, with no ominous signs, when the tows passed the Delaware Breakwater about midnight of March eighth. Four other tows put in there. One north-bound tow got the substance of the morning forecast broadcast by the weather bureau at Arlington, which predicted winds shifting to east and southeast and increasing. With a falling glass, its master put in, and three other tows followed. The Montrose and the Hooper did not get Arlington's evening forecast, which predicted winds “becoming fresh to strong.” Their only sets were the masters' private receiving sets, which were not in working order. The owner had neither furnished nor supervised them. Only one coastwise line equipped its tugs with sets; the rest relied on their crews. The wind rose to a gale before noon on the ninth. Both barges leaked, and their pumps failed. No. 30's hand pump could not be manned, and her tubes burst. On No. 17, a temporary bulkhead gave way and coal clogged the suction. Both barges were lost on March tenth, after their crews were taken off.

Issues

1. Were the barges unseaworthy, and did the record show the due diligence that would excuse them to the cargo owners?
2. Were the tugs unseaworthy because they carried no working radio receiving sets, when such sets had not yet become general among coastwise carriers?
3. Is it a final answer to what proper diligence requires that a business has not yet generally adopted a new device?

Holding

The barges were unseaworthy, and the record did not show due diligence to examine them. The tugs were unseaworthy for lacking working receiving sets. There was no custom at all, because some carriers had sets and some did not, and with proper sets the tugs would have got the Arlington reports and should have put in. The loss followed directly from that unseaworthiness.