N. Pac. S.S. Co. v. Hall Bros. Marine R. & Shipbuilding Co. - 249 U.S. 119, 39 S. Ct. 221 (1919)

Rule:

While the civil jurisdiction of the admiralty in matters of tort depends upon locality, whether the act was committed upon navigable waters, in matter of contract it depends upon the subject-matter, the nature and character of the contract; and the English rule, which conceded jurisdiction, with a few exceptions, only to contracts made and to be executed upon the navigable waters, is inadmissible, the true criterion being the nature of the contract, as to whether it have reference to maritime service or maritime transactions.

Facts:

Appellant steamship company and appellee shipbuilding company were corporations of the State of California. Appellee filed its libel in personam against appellant to recover a balance claimed to be due for certain work and labor done, services rendered, and materials furnished in and about the repairing of the steamship Yucatan. Appellant filed an answer denying material averments of the libel, and a cross-libel setting up a claim for damages for delay in the making of the repairs. The district court entered a decree for recovery in favor of the appellant and a dismissal of the cross-libel. Subsequently, appellant filed a motion to arrest and vacate the decree and to dismiss the cause for want of jurisdiction.

Issue:

Was the appellee’s claim subject of admiralty jurisdiction? 

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

On appeal, the Court affirmed the decree and rejected the appellant’s argument that the admiralty did not have jurisdiction. The Court held that admiralty jurisdiction applied to the repair of a ship whether the repairs took place while the ship was in the water or when the ship had been removed to land.