Talbot v. Seeman

Facts of the Case

Provided by Justia

This was a libel for salvage filed in the District Court of New York, by Silas Talbot, Esq., for himself and the officers and crew of the Constitution, a vessel of the United States, against the ship Amelia, the property of merchant citizens of Hamburgh, she having been recaptured on the high seas by the Constitution on 15 September, 1799, after her capture on 6 September by a French corvette while on her voyage from Calcutta to Hamburgh. The captors placed a prize master and men on board of the Amelia and ordered her to St. Domingo. On her recapture by captain Talbot, she was sent to New York. The district court allowed salvage to the libellants, and the circuit court reversed the decree. The case came up by writ of error to the circuit court on the part of the libellants.

Conclusions

Salvage is a compensation for actual services rendered to the property charged with it, and is demandable of right for vessels saved from the enemy or from pirates.