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17 Brit. Y.B. Int'l L. 82 (1936)
The Case of the I'm Alone

handle is hein.journals/byrint17 and id is 86 raw text is: THE CASE OF THE I'M ALONE By G. G. FITZMAURICE I. History of the Case ON March 22, 1929, the I'm Alone, a British schooner of Canadian registry, was sunk by the United States coastguard vessel Dexter, by gun-fire, at a point on the high seas more than 200 miles from the coast of the United States. The I'm Alone, a vessel engaged in the smuggling of alcoholic liquor into the United States, had originally been hailed by the United States coastguard vessel Wolcott at a point the exact location of which has never been determined, but which was admittedly beyond the limit of three miles from the coast of the United States. The I'm Alone had refused to stop or allow herself to be boarded, and had made out t3 sea with the Wolcott in pursuit. After the pursuit had lasted some two days, the Wblcott was joined by another United States coastguard vessel, the Dexter, by which the I'm Alone was actually sunk. The Wolcott, however, remained in the pursuit throughout. The sinking was not accidental, but was intentionally carried out on the ground that the I'm Alone refused to stop and allow herself to be boarded and searched. The vessel and her cargo, together with the personal effects of her captain and crew, became a total loss. The captain and crew were rescued by the coastguard vessel, with the exception of one man, who was drowned. In sinking the I'm Alone the United States revenue vessels purported to be acting in the exercise of powers conferred on the United States by the so-called Liquor Convention, concluded with His Majesty The King in 1924.' The preamble to this Con- vention recited that the Parties were desirous of avoiding any difficulties which might arise between them in con- nexion with the laws in force in the United States on the subject of alcoholic beverages. In the opening article the Parties declared their firm intention of upholding the three-mile limit as constituting the proper limits I They were of course, from the standpoint of United States municipal law, also acting in the exercise of powers conferred upon them by that law. But this is not relevant in the present connexion, since the valid exercise, outside territorial waters, of the powers conferred by United States law depended, internationally, on the existence of the Convention.

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