Talk:SS Utopia

A fact from SS Utopia appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 6 November 2010 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that soon after the ocean liner SS Utopia collided with the battleship HMS Anson, resulting in 564 deaths near Gibraltar in 1891, the partially submerged wreckage was involved in another collision?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2010/November.

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Untitled

"SS Primula, entering the harbour, collided with the wreck of Utopia.[14] At the inquiry the crew of Primula said that they did see the lights, but not the ship.[14] They recognized the masts and funnel protruding above the water when the collision was already inevitable.[14] The court ruling on the second Utopia collision set a precedent of maritime law that remained in place for thirty-five years.[14]"

^ a b c d e f Mandaraka-Sheppard 2007, pp. 567-568.

Wouldn't it be nice to find out what this long-standing precedent was? :) --CumbiaDude (talk) 19:22, 6 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Good point, it needs some professional attention. IANAL.

The source is very brief, and as I understand it, the Primula court ruled (Mandaraka, p. 568) "that the port authority, and not the owners of the wreck [Utopia] was liable for the collision" because "the control and management of the wreck insofar as it related to the protection of other vessels from her, had legitimately been transferred by the owners to the port authority".
And then the same book discusses the case of Dee Conservancy Board vs. McConnell which, as I remember, denied application of the Utopia-Primula rule in this case. It did not reverse the decision, but narrowed its applicable scope (what can be construed as "legitimately been transferred" to someone else). But I cannot see relevan source pages on googlebooks right now.
Marsden on Collisions At Sea, p. 120 summarizes many cases to the effect that Sir Frances Jeune, the judge of Utopia-Primula case, ruled against the established practice, and his decision "has been expressly dissented from in the Court of Appeals" in the 1928 Dee... case.
So, perhaps, it makes sense to re-state the phrase to reflect the place of the 1893 ruling in the broader picture.

Cheers, East of Borschov 19:52, 6 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Good to know

On 17 March 1891 Utopia accidentally collided with the battleship HMS Anson ....

Good to know it was by accident and not on purpose. Sca (talk) 15:39, 17 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed

What ship was it trying to collide with?2601:243:1400:7200:EDD4:5A33:E7E6:1397 (talk) 06:29, 17 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]