The Nacoochee case in 1890 involved a collision between two ships, the British ship "Nacoochee" and the American vessel "James E. Ward". The incident occurred off the coast of New Jersey, resulting in significant damage to both vessels. The owners of James E. Ward filed a lawsuit against Nacoochee for negligence leading to the accident. However, it was determined that both ships were at fault due to their failure to comply with statutory rules regarding navigation lights during foggy conditions which led to poor visibility at sea. As such, each party had contributed equally towards causing this mishap by not taking necessary precautions as required by law under such circumstances. Consequently, neither party could claim damages from one another since they were both responsible for causing this unfortunate event through their negligent actions. This ruling set an important precedent in maritime law where if two vessels are found equally at fault in a collision; neither can recover damages from the other.

In the dissenting opinion for The Nacochee case, it was argued that the majority's decision to hold both vessels equally at fault did not align with established maritime law principles. It was contended that the British steamer, The Nacoochee, had violated navigational rules by failing to maintain a proper lookout and speed in foggy conditions. This violation should have placed more blame on this vessel rather than splitting liability evenly between both ships involved in the collision. Furthermore, it was pointed out that there were inconsistencies within testimonies provided by crew members of The Nacoochee regarding their actions leading up to the accident which cast doubt on their credibility and reliability as witnesses. Therefore, according to this dissenting view, placing equal responsibility on both vessels seemed unjustified given these circumstances.