Ricker v. United States

115 F. Supp. 193, 126 Ct. Cl. 460, 1953 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 113
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedOctober 6, 1953
DocketNo. 49516
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 115 F. Supp. 193 (Ricker v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ricker v. United States, 115 F. Supp. 193, 126 Ct. Cl. 460, 1953 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 113 (cc 1953).

Opinion

Littleton, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiffs sue to recover just compensation for the requisitioning and taking by defendant of the hull of the former battleship Oregon on April 19, 1944. Plaintiffs contend that the hull of the Oregon was marketable by them for use as an unpropelled barge or vessel; that its fair value for that purpose was $150,000 at the time it was taken, and asks judgment in that amount plus interest for delay in payment. There is no dispute as to the Government’s liability for just compensation. The defendant offered plaintiffs $11,270.80 for the hull, and the dispute here is as to the amount, if any, due plaintiffs in excess of that sum.

[462]*462Plaintiffs acquired ownership of the ship on January 23, 1943, when they purchased her from the defendant upon the acceptance of their bid of $35,0.00. The Government’s disposal of the Oregon for scrapping, following its service to the country through two wars and its many years of use by the State of Oregon as a historical museum, resulted from a directive of the President on October 26, 1942, authorizing the Navy Department to “turn the 17. S. S. Oregon over to the War Production Board for reduction to scrap" [Italics supplied.]

The contract of sale to plaintiffs read in part as follows:

* * * If awarded to me/us, the vessel bid on will be scrapped at beyond the limits of the City of Portland and out of Oregon if possible. Scrapping will be completed within six months from date of delivery of the vessel by the Government. * * *
It is hereby agreed that all classifications of salvage material and of scrap material shall be made and designated by this bidder and all such classifications shall be final. [Italics supplied.]

Plaintiffs paid the full purchase price, and after the removal of the foremast and topmast, which were given to the Battleship Oregon Commission as a memorial to the ship, possession was given to the plaintiffs. They leased the docking facilities at the Port of Kalama, Washington, where after making necessary repairs to the dock site and installing the needed machinery and equipment, they carried on their salvage and scrapping operations on the Oregon until approximately two months prior to the defendant’s requisitioning of the hull of the vessel in April 1944.

Early in their scrapping operations, the plaintiffs decided, without consulting defendant, to salvage the hull for its possible use as an unpropelled vessel or barge. Their dismantling operations were conducted with such purpose in mind. All engines, boilers, pumps, pipes, generators, machinery and like equipment, were removed from the hold and the entire superstructure including guns and turrets, down to the top or weather deck were stripped off. Plaintiffs received the sum of $193,620.95 from the sale of these materials.

[463]*463On March 27,1944, a ship broker, acting on behalf of the plaintiffs, informed the War Shipping Administration of the existence of the Oregon hull, suggesting that it could be put to excellent use as an unpropelled barge or vessel, and that a price would be quoted on request.

By telegram of April 7,1944, plaintiffs were advised that the War Shipping Administrator “has determined to and does hereby requisition title to and possession of the ex-battleship Oregon pursuant to Section 902 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, as amended.” The requisitioning was effective on April 19,1944.

Defendant then proceeded to install seven cargo hatches in the main deck, fit the vessel with light and storage batteries plus the making of various other repairs, all at a cost of $6,962.79. The hull was then towed to Guam by the Navy, where it was at the time of the trial of this case.

On April 13, 1948, the United States Maritime Commission having succeeded to all functions of the War Shipping Administration, offered to the plaintiffs $11,270.80 as the total compensation for the Oregon hull. This figure included the sum of $10,250 as the value of the hull and $1,020.80 as compensation for delay in payment. On June 4, 1948, plaintiffs rejected this award as not constituting just compensation. On June 24, 1949, however, plaintiffs accepted the sum of $8,453.10, which was 75 percent of the total amount offered and reserved their right to sue defendant for such further amount as they believed to be due.

The issues here in dispute arise from the difference between the parties on the question as to whether the Oregon hull at the time of the taking is to be valued as scrap material, as urged by the defendant, or as a usable unpropelled vessel or barge for sale in the shipping trade, as asserted by the plaintiffs.

The defendant, in urging scrap value as the standard, contends that the contract of sale to plaintiffs was a scrapping contract under which the plaintiffs were required to dismantle the ship and scrap the hull thereof. In stressing this view, the defendant, in addition to pointing to the language of the President’s directive of October 26, 1942, [464]*464and of the contract, supra, calls attention to the fact that the disposal of the Oregon was handled in a special manner, that is, soliciting of bids on a selective basis, with the intention that no part of the vessel, as such, was to be used again. This, the defendant points out, resulted because of the rather unique status of the Oregon, particularly in the State of Oregon where it had been maintained by that State as a museum because of the historical interest attached to it. Defendant further stresses the fact that it was only because of the need for scrap metal brought about by the war conditions which prompted the President to authorize the scrapping of the Oregon. With such background in mind, defendant contends that under the contract of sale it was never intended or contemplated that the plaintiffs sell the hull of the vessel or put it to use as an unpropelled barge by private interests. Defendant maintains the Government’s need for the hull in the prosecution of the war and the use made of the hull by the Government after requisitioning it, is immaterial to the issues here.

In contending that it is the market value at which they might have sold the hull for use as an unpropelled barge or vessel, upon which just compensation must be based, plaintiffs rely on two principal points: (1) That, under the provision of the contract above quoted, they were given full and final authority to designate what material was to be salvaged and what was to be scrapped. On the basis of that provision, they claim that they had the undeniable right to the hull as a salvageable item in itself and they here contend that the defendant is bound to pay just compensation based on that classification. (2) Plaintiffs contend that the Government’s fitting of the hull for such a purpose after requisitioning it, supports their position as to their rights under the contract of sale of the ship to them.

In disposing of the Oregon the Navy Department at first resorted to the customary procedure, which included an appraisal and general advertisement in solicitation of bids. However, when all bids received were unacceptable because of qualifications attached to them, the Navy invited bids on a selective basis, forwarding to prospective bidders an “invi[465]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
115 F. Supp. 193, 126 Ct. Cl. 460, 1953 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 113, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ricker-v-united-states-cc-1953.