Case Name: WILLIAM CRAMP & SONS SHIP AND ENGINE BUILDING COMPANY v. THE UNITED STATES
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1910-02-28
Citations: 45 Ct. Cl. 610
Docket Number: 
Parties: WILLIAM CRAMP & SONS SHIP AND ENGINE BUILDING COMPANY v. THE UNITED STATES.
Judges: 
Reporter: United States Court of Claims Reports
Volume: 45
Pages: 610–611

Head Matter:
WILLIAM CRAMP & SONS SHIP AND ENGINE BUILDING COMPANY v. THE UNITED STATES.
[43 C. Cls. R., 202;
216 U. S. R., 494.]
The contract is for building the Alabama. It contains a provision that before final payment the contractor shall give a final release “ of all claims of any hind or description ” under or by virtue of the contract. The release given is “ on account of the construction of said vessel under the contract afore said.” The principal question involved, is whether the release extends to delays caused by the defendants and to matters not contemplated by the original contract, a release which ordinarily would require a new consideration.
The court below dismisses the petition and decides:
I. It was decided by the Supreme Court in United States v. Cramp and Sons (206 U. S. it., 118) that the contract provided in advance that it should be closed by the execution of a release of all claims of any kind or description, and that the release actually given must be deemed to be so intended and to leave nothing open and unsettled.
II. The decision of the Supreme Court in the case referred to is conclusive in this case, the contracts being similar. Where the vessel was completed and the retained money paid, the righ'ts of the parties were determined by the contract itself and not by the language of the release.
The decision of the court below is reversed, the Supreme Court holding that a proviso in the release in this case distinguished it from the proviso in the other case and reserved to the contractors their right of action for certain unliqui-dated damages.

Opinion:
Mr. Justice Brewer
delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court February 28, 1910.