It’s an old story, and almost certainly (!) untrue, but it still makes me laugh.
However, allegedly (!!) there was a transcript of a radio conversation from a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in 1995.
Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.
Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.
Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.
Americans: This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the United States’ Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers and numerous support vessels. I demand that YOU change your course 15 degrees north, that’s one five degrees north, or countermeasures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.
Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.
There are a number of lessons we can learn from this.
Firstly, don’t believe everything you read – whilst it is a good story, it’s clearly not true for various reasons, not least of all the fact that if the Americans didn’t know where they were sufficiently well to realise that they were talking to a lighthouse, then they have much bigger problems to worry about.
Secondly, this is one of the few occasions where size really doesn’t matter. If the story was true (wouldn’t it be fab if it had happened!) it demonstrates that despite the considerable weight of the American side, they are still going to lose – because they are in the wrong! So don’t be put off by your opponent having deeper pockets or more expensive solicitors than you do. At the end of the day, it often doesn’t matter. Bigger doesn’t mean better – it just means more expensive. If their case is so great, why do they need to bolster their position by instructing a firm that cost three times the price, especially when the work will probably be being delegated to a junior’s junior, who is having to do so many chargeable hours that they’re sleeping at their desk!
Finally (and perhaps most importantly) looks can be deceptive. Just because the Americans say that they’re going to take countermeasures, doesn’t mean they will. At the time that they say it, they probably meant it, but when it comes down to it, are they really going to shoot a lighthouse? Probably not (although nothing is ever certain!).
So if you’re currently involved in a dispute, and you’re worried about the implications and the outcome, just remember that one little lighthouse allegedly outsmarted a large part of the American naval fleet!
Kleyman & Co Solicitors. The full-service law firm. Shining the light on those in choppy waters.