## Facts

- Richard C. Kelly drowned on September 4, 1970, near Sodus Point, New York, after a 19-foot recreational sailboat capsized on Lake Ontario.
- The estate alleged the U.S. Coast Guard negligently failed to rescue Kelly and negligently deterred or prevented other would-be rescuers from assisting him.
- The estate filed an administrative claim with the Coast Guard on August 31, 1972; the Coast Guard denied it on October 30, 1972.
- The estate filed suit on March 13, 1973, in federal district court under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), invoking 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b).
- The district court dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, holding the claim was an admiralty matter governed exclusively by the Suits in Admiralty Act (SIAA) and barred by the SIAA’s two-year limitations period.

## Issues

1. Whether the alleged Coast Guard negligence connected to a drowning from a capsized pleasure sailboat on Lake Ontario constituted a maritime tort within admiralty jurisdiction.
2. If the claim sounded in admiralty, whether it fell within the SIAA’s waiver of sovereign immunity.
3. Whether the FTCA could provide jurisdiction or a remedy when the claim was maritime and potentially covered by the SIAA.
4. Whether the SIAA’s two-year statute of limitations barred the action, notwithstanding FTCA administrative presentment and subsequent filing.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
- The court held the claim was maritime in nature and within admiralty jurisdiction because it arose on navigable waters and bore a significant relationship to traditional maritime activity (rescue/life-saving operations involving a vessel in distress).
- The court held the SIAA supplied the exclusive remedy for this type of admiralty claim against the United States, displacing the FTCA.
- Because no timely SIAA action was filed within two years of September 4, 1970, the claim was time-barred.

## Legal Principles

- Admiralty tort jurisdiction requires a wrong on navigable waters and a significant relationship to traditional maritime activity.
- Coast Guard actions or omissions in connection with rescue efforts for a vessel in distress on navigable waters are sufficiently maritime to fall within admiralty jurisdiction.
- When a claim against the United States sounds in admiralty and is covered by the SIAA, the SIAA is the exclusive avenue of relief; the FTCA cannot be used to avoid SIAA conditions.
- The SIAA’s two-year limitations period is strictly applied; pursuing FTCA administrative remedies does not, by itself, preserve an otherwise untimely SIAA claim.

## Conclusion

The court treated the estate’s allegations as a maritime tort tied to traditional rescue activity on navigable waters, held the SIAA provided the sole remedy against the United States, and affirmed dismissal because the action was not brought within the SIAA’s two-year limitations period.


Kelly v. United States, 531 F.2d 1144 (2d Cir. 1976)