UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

SHARON DENISE OWENS,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v. No. 95-1685

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Newport News.

Rebecca B. Smith, District Judge.

(CA-94-55-4)

Submitted: February 8, 1996

Decided: July 11, 1996

Before RUSSELL and LUTTIG, Circuit Judges, and CHAPMAN,

Senior Circuit Judge.

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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

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COUNSEL

Sherman Carl Smith, Newport News, Virginia, for Appellant.

Frank W. Hunger, Assistant Attorney General, Helen F. Fahey,

United States Attorney, David V. Hutchinson, Assistant Director,

Admiralty Section, Robert H. Schapler, Trial Attorney, Torts Branch,

Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,

Washington, D.C., for Appellee.

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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c).

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OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Appellant Sharon Denise Owens appeals the dismissal of her complaint alleging negligence on the part of appellee United States. The

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found

that the statute of limitations had expired, and it therefore granted the

United States' motion to dismiss the complaint under Federal Rule of

Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). We affirm.

On June 17, 1991, Owens, a pipefitter for Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, slipped, fell, and was injured while

on board the U.S.S. Enterprise. On June 17, 1993, exactly two years

later, Owens filed an action under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Because the Federal Tort Claims Act was not the proper vehicle for

relief, she later amended her complaint to add the Suits in Admiralty

Act as an additional source of relief.

On April 20, 1994, the amended complaint was dismissed without

prejudice for failure to comply with the 120 day requirement for service under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(j). On May 5, 1994,

Owens filed a second complaint stating claims under the Federal Tort

Claims Act, the Suits in Admiralty Act, and the Public Vessels Act.

Because the second complaint was not filed within the two year time

limitation on admiralty actions, the government moved to have this

complaint dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Owens

argued that her first complaint was timely filed, and therefore, the filing of the first complaint tolled the statute of limitations.

This court reviews the district court's dismissal for lack of subject

matter jurisdiction de novo. Ahmed v. United States, 30 F.3d 514, 516

(4th Cir. 1994). The district court recognized that actions under the

Suits in Admiralty Act and the Public Vessels Act must be brought

within two years from the date that the cause of action arises. The two

 2
year limitations period under the Suits in Admiralty Act, which also

applies to suits under the Public Vessels Act through 46 U.S.C. § 782,

is jurisdictional. Williams v. United States, 228 F.2d 129 (4th Cir.

1955).

Even accepting as true Owens' contention that the filing of the first

complaint tolled the statute of limitations, the second complaint was

not timely filed. The statute of limitations would have been tolled

from June 17, 1993, the filing date, until April 20, 1994, the date the

first complaint was dismissed. Because Owens filed the first complaint on the last day of the limitations period, she would have had

to have filed the second complaint on the very day the first complaint

was dismissed. To allow the second complaint to go forward would

grant Owens longer than two years total to bring her action. The district court was correct to dismiss the second complaint as untimely.

For the foregoing reasons, the district court's granting of the government's motion to dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

12(b)(1) is hereby

AFFIRMED.

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