Silver Line Ltd. v. United States

On October 24, 1933, the cruiser Chicago, of the United States Navy, and the British motorship Silverpalm, owned and operated by a British corporation, were in collision off the coast of California, in the vicinity of Point Sur, and outside the territorial waters of the United States. Three officers of the cruiser Chicago were killed when the bow of the Silverpalm entered the hull of the Chicago, crushing them in their quarters between decks. Their administrators, appellees, claim that the law of Great Britain gives a right of action to administrators of decedents against the persons negligently causing the decedents’ death upon the high seas and outside the territorial jurisdiction of Great Britain, and further claim that this right of action exists although the consummation of the tort and the injury it created occurred entirely within a vessel under the dominion of the United States.

The United States gives a cause of action against the persons negligently causing death on the high seas and in favor of the personal representative of the decedent, as follows: “Whenever the death of a person shall be caused by wrongful act, neglect, or default occurring on the high seas beyond a…