Inside the Chamber > The Willow Harp
Aboard the Willow Harp, before dawn on April 22, 1877, the middle watch was ending. The two-masted schooner was making eight or nine knots, sailing free, in the waters around Nantucket. It was a dark night, and the crew could make out lights from two other sailing vessels on the same course. But, they couldn’t see the low hull of a steamship, The Leopard, speeding toward them, on the opposite course, at a rate of seven knots.
Around 4 a.m., the sailors on the Willow Harp finally spotted the danger. Panicking, they jibed across the steamer’s bow; sails fluttering and useless, collision was unavoidable. The steamer’s prow smashed into the schooner’s starboard side, crushing timbers and twisting iron braces around a desperate gash. Water poured into the hull as the crew clambered to safety on the Leopard. Passing a line to the sinking ship, the steamer towed her to a nearby shoal, where she went aground around 11 a.m.
In 1878, the owners of the respective vessels found themselves in the Chamber of Commerce’s Court of Arbitration. The fault seemed to lie with the Willow Harp’s crew, if - as the Leopard’s attorney said – they had held their course, instead of veering into danger, the collision never would have occurred. Still, maritime law favored sailing ships – which had far less discretion in their choice of direction and pace – stipulating that steam-powered vessels had to slacken speed and steer clear of sailing vessels in their vicinity.
As evidence, the parties presented detailed maps, drawings depicting the results of the accident, and even constructed model ships with which to recreate the step-by-step events of the case.
In the end, the Court decided to split the difference, finding “fault on both sides,” and ordering that “the damages should be equally borne by the steamer and the injured schooner.”