The Bothnea and the Jahnstoff was a case heard before the United States Supreme Court in 1817. The dispute arose when two ships, one owned by an American citizen and another owned by a British subject, collided off of the coast of Cuba. The owner of the American ship sued for damages from his counterpart's vessel but was denied due to lack of jurisdiction over foreign vessels on international waters. In its decision, the court held that it had no power to hear cases involving foreign vessels unless they were within U.S territorial waters or involved citizens from both countries as parties in litigation. This ruling established precedent that would be used throughout maritime law until modern times where more expansive jurisdictional powers have been granted to courts around the world through treaties such as UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on Law Of Sea).

In The Bothnea and the Jahnstoff, a majority of justices on the Supreme Court held that an American vessel was not entitled to salvage for rescuing a foreign ship in distress. Justice Story dissented from this opinion, arguing that it is well-established law that vessels are entitled to salvage when they rescue another vessel in peril regardless of its nationality. He noted further that Congress had passed laws granting such rights to American vessels rescuing foreign ships, which should be taken as evidence of their intent to grant these rights even if no specific statute existed at the time. In addition, he argued against limiting salvors' compensation based on whether or not they were able to save any cargo from the distressed ship; instead, he suggested allowing them some reward for their efforts regardless of what goods were saved or lost during the rescue attempt.