Furry, Finned & Feathered Friends

[dargelos]

No pictures, instead, a story.
Rats are a menace on ships, they only have to nibble at food supplies to make the whole lot unsafe to eat, which is especialy problematic for a warship that cannot return to port for more food. In 1948 a seaman found a stray cat and brought it onboard his ship HMS Amethyst where it was found to be fearless at catching rats, was given the name Simon and became the ships mascot. The ship was attacked and many crewmen were badly hurt, including Simon, who was not expected to live. But he made a full recovery and it was then he made his most valuable contribution to the war effort. Most of the sailors in the overflowing sickbay had never been to sea before and were in as bad a state mentaly as they were physicaly. Simon seemed to know what he had to do. He befriended the wounded men, which soothed their fear and helped them retain the will to survive. Cats have nine lives so they know all about the need to keep going in the face of death.
For his bravery Simon was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal, the Blue Cross Medal and the Naval General Service Medal.
There have been many stories about heroic dogs but not so many about heroic cats, which makes Simon's story all the more special.

 

[waistingmytime]

​

 

[waistingmytime]

​

 

[W!nston]

 

[brmstn69]

No pictures, instead, a story.
Rats are a menace on ships, they only have to nibble at food supplies to make the whole lot unsafe to eat, which is especialy problematic for a warship that cannot return to port for more food. In 1948 a seaman found a stray cat and brought it onboard his ship HMS Amethyst where it was found to be fearless at catching rats, was given the name Simon and became the ships mascot. The ship was attacked and many crewmen were badly hurt, including Simon, who was not expected to live. But he made a full recovery and it was then he made his most valuable contribution to the war effort. Most of the sailors in the overflowing sickbay had never been to sea before and were in as bad a state mentaly as they were physicaly. Simon seemed to know what he had to do. He befriended the wounded men, which soothed their fear and helped them retain the will to survive. Cats have nine lives so they know all about the need to keep going in the face of death.
For his bravery Simon was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal, the Blue Cross Medal and the Naval General Service Medal.
There have been many stories about heroic dogs but not so many about heroic cats, which makes Simon's story all the more special.

Unsinkable Sam A.K.A. Oscar/Oskar

Oscar was the ship's cat on Germany's ill-fated WWII battleship Bismarck's one and only mission. Only 118 of the ships crew of 2200 survived it's sinking, along with Oscar the cat.

Found floating on a plank of wood among the wreckage of the Bismarck, Oscar along with 114 German sailors were rescued by the crew of the HMS Cossack, one of the ships that sank the Bismarck.

Oscar served as ship's cat aboard the Cossack for several months until it too was sunk in battle. Once again, Oscar was found clinging to a plank of wood and rescued.

Next he was renamed "Unsinkable Sam" and transferred to the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, which was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-563.

Once again as his rescuers described, "a very angry but otherwise unharmed" Oscar/Sam, was plucked from the sea.

It was decided that after surviving the sinking of three ships Sam would retire from the sea and was given the position of "mouser" at the Governor of Gibraltar's offices and from there he was sent to the "Home for Sailors" in Belfast Ireland where he stayed until his death 14 years later in 1955.

A pastel portrait of Sam (titled Oscar, the Bismarck's Cat) by the artist Georgina Shaw-Baker hangs in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

 

[trencherman]

Standoffish

​

 

[taurus2904]

 

[taurus2904]

These are some harried, hungry kitties!

 

[taurus2904]

Selfie Cat

This feline has more selfie game than most people!

My favorites are: #2 - Side-eye and #5 - Squad.

 

[waistingmytime]

​

 

[waistingmytime]

​

 

[waistingmytime]

​

 

[W!nston]

 

[W!nston]

 

[W!nston]

 

[W!nston]

 

[trencherman]

Curious cat

​

 

[W!nston]

This cat is guarding & extra protective of her first, only baby (boy)

 

[W!nston]

 

[dargelos]

Another cat story. A woman wanted to home a cat from the pet rescue shelter and picked Marlow. But the shelter staff found that Marlow did not want to leave his brother Mitten, the pair had a great friendship and hated being apart. So they talked the woman into taking both cats as an item, which is what they were. In their new home the two boy cats continue to love one another, bringing happiness to themselves and to their new owners