Standard Oil Co. v. Shipowners' & Merchants' Tugboat Co.

(after stating the facts as above). The trial court found that the collision was the result of faulty navigation upon the part of the captain of the Dodd in maneuvering his ship around the turn in the channel. Notwithstanding the *368 well-settled rule that a finding of fact so made upon the testimony of witnesses taken before the eoiprt will not be disturbed by an appellate court except for manifest error, the appellant contends that here the rule does not apply for the reason that there was no evidence whatever to show negligence on the part of the officers of the Dodd. We do not so read the record. We accept it as an established fact not only upon the finding of the court below, but upon the evidence in the case, that the battleship was properly anchored with proper anchor lights burning and within the naval anchorage ground, well off the deep-water channel, leaving ample passage clearance for vessels, so that the question of the blame for the collision must rest between the Dodd and the tug. We find evidence tending to sustain the finding of the court below that the collision was the result of faulty navigation, in that the Dodd failed to reduce her speed as she approached the…