In the 1897 case of The Victory & The Plymothian, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a dispute involving two ships that had collided at sea. The British ship, "The Plymothian," was anchored in a shipping lane when it was struck by an American vessel, "The Victory." Both parties claimed damages from each other and filed suits to recover their losses. In its decision, the court held that both vessels were equally at fault for failing to follow proper maritime procedures: "The Victory" for not taking adequate precautions while navigating through foggy conditions and "The Plymothian" for anchoring inappropriately within a recognized channel of navigation without displaying necessary lights or signals as required by law. Consequently, they decided that neither party could recover damages from the other due to their shared negligence contributing equally to causing the collision.

In the dissenting opinion for The Victory & The Plymothian case, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with established principles of maritime law. He contended that a vessel at anchor should not be held liable for damages caused by another ship unless it can be proven that there was negligence or fault on their part. In this case, he believed no such evidence existed to suggest any wrongdoing by 'The Victory.' Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority’s interpretation of ‘in extremis’ doctrine and its application in this situation. According to him, 'The Plymothian' had ample time and opportunity to avoid collision but failed due to its own negligence; thus it should bear full responsibility for the accident. Therefore, he dissented from the court's ruling which apportioned blame equally between both vessels involved in the incident.