Ship's cat
The ship's cat has been a common feature on many trading, exploration, and naval ships dating to ancient times. Cats have been carried on ships for many reasons, most importantly to control rodents. Vermin aboard a ship can cause damage to ropes, woodwork, and more recently, electrical wiring. Also, rodents threaten ships' stores, devour crews' foodstuff, and could cause economic damage to ships' cargo such as grain. They are also a source of disease, which is dangerous for ships that are at sea for long periods of time. Rat fleas are carriers of plague, and rats on ships were believed to be a primary vector of the Black Death.
Cats naturally attack and kill rodents, and their natural ability to adapt to new surroundings made them suitable for service on a ship. In addition, they offer companionship and a sense of home, security and camaraderie to sailors away from home.
History
The African wildcat was probably first tamed in the Fertile Crescent during the first agricultural revolution that started about 10,000 years ago.Small cat bones excavated on Mediterranean islands indicate that cats were introduced around the beginning of the first millennium.
Analysis of mitochondrial DNA of archaeological cat specimens revealed that ancient Egyptian cats started spreading in the 8th century BCE along Mediterranean trading routes and reached a Viking port at the Baltic Sea by the 7th century. During the Age of Discovery from the 15th through the 18th centuries, traders took them onboard their ships to much of the rest of the world.
Cats and superstition
Sometimes worshipped as deities, cats have long had a reputation as magical animals and numerous myths and superstitions sprang up among the unusually superstitious seafaring community. They were considered to be intelligent and lucky animals, and a high level of care was devoted to keeping them happy. Some sailors believed that polydactyl cats were better at catching pests, possibly connected with the suggestion that extra digits give a polydactyl cat better balance, important when at sea. In some places polydactyl cats became known as "ship's cats".Cats were believed to have miraculous powers that could protect ships from dangerous weather. Sometimes, fishermen's wives would keep black cats at home too, in the hope that they would be able to use their influence to protect their husbands at sea. It was believed to be lucky if a cat approached a sailor on deck, but unlucky if it only came halfway, and then retreated. Another popular belief was that cats could start storms through magic stored in their tails. If a ship's cat fell or was thrown overboard, it was thought that it would summon a terrible storm to sink the ship and that if the ship was able to survive, it would be cursed with nine years of bad luck. Other beliefs included, if a cat licked its fur against the grain, it meant a hail storm was coming; if it sneezed it meant rain; and if it was frisky it meant wind.
Some of these beliefs are rooted in reality. Cats are able to detect slight changes in the weather, as a result of their very sensitive inner ears, which also allow them to land upright when falling. Low atmospheric pressure, a common precursor of stormy weather, often makes cats nervous and restless. Cats naturally react to barometric pressure changes, through which a keen observer can detect unusual behavior and predict an incoming storm. The tradition that every ship needs a mascot made cats very welcome among sailors.
Notable examples
The prevalence of cats on ships has led to them being reported on by a number of noted seafarers. The outbreak of the Second World War, with the spread of mass communication and the active nature of the world's navies, also led to a number of ship's cats becoming celebrities in their own right.Blackie
Blackie was HMS Prince of Wales's ship's cat. During the Second World War, he achieved worldwide fame after Prince of Wales carried Prime Minister Winston Churchill across the Atlantic to NS Argentia, Newfoundland, in August 1941, where he secretly met with the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt for several days in a secure anchorage. This meeting resulted in the declaration of the Atlantic Charter, but as Churchill prepared to step off Prince of Wales, Blackie approached. Churchill stooped to bid farewell to Blackie, and the moment was photographed and reported in the world media. In honour of the success of the visit, Blackie was renamed Churchill. Blackie survived the sinking of Prince of Wales by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service later that year, and was taken to Singapore with the survivors. He could not be found when Singapore was evacuated the following year and his fate is unknown.Camouflage
Camouflage was the ship's cat aboard a US Coast Guard LST in the Pacific theater, WWII. He was known for chasing enemy tracer rounds across the deck.Chibley
Chibley was the ship's cat aboard the tall ship Barque Picton Castle. She was rescued from an animal shelter and circumnavigated the world five times. Picton Castle’s role as a training ship resulted in Chibley being introduced to a large number of visitors and becoming a celebrity in her own right. Chibley died on November 10, 2011, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. She had sailed over 180,000 miles at sea.Convoy
Convoy was the ship's cat aboard HMS Hermione. He was so named because of the number of times he accompanied the ship on convoy escort duties. Convoy was listed in the ship's book and provided with a full kit, including a tiny hammock in which he slept. He was killed along with 87 of his crew mates when Hermione was torpedoed and sunk on 16 June 1942 by German submarine U-205.Emmy
Emmy was the ship's cat on. She was an orange tabby cat who never missed a voyage. However, on 28 May 1914, Emmy jumped ship while in port in Quebec City. The crew returned her to the ship, but she left again, leaving her kittens behind. The Empress of Ireland left without her, which was regarded as a terrible omen. Early the next morning Empress of Ireland collided with while steaming through fog at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and rapidly sank, killing over 1,000 people.Felix
Felix was the ship's cat aboard Mayflower II when she set sail from Devon, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1957 to symbolize the solidarity between the UK and the US following World War II. He was given his own life jacket and once suffered a broken paw after a mishap. The paw was set by the ship's doctor. Photos and stories about Felix appeared in National Geographic, Life, and Yankee magazine after his arrival in the US. The cat and the rest of the crew marched in a New York ticker tape parade and toured the East Coast that summer. He was eventually adopted by the cabin boy's girlfriend, Ann Berry, and settled in Waltham, Massachusetts. The current captain of the Mayflower II wrote a children's book about Felix entitled Felix and his Mayflower II Adventures. The book was published during the celebration of the ship's fiftieth anniversary at Plimoth Plantation.Halifax
Halifax was the name given to Alvah and Diana Simon's ship's cat who was found in the port of Halifax, on their way to winter at Tay Bay in 1994, on Roger Henry. The cat spent all of the time iced in on the boat with Alvah, when Diana had to leave for family purposes. Alvah's book North To The Night describes his adventure in the ice with Halifax the cat, who ended up losing half an ear to frostbite.Jenny
Jenny was the name of the ship's cat aboard and was mentioned in the accounts of several of the crew members who survived the ocean liner's fateful 1912 maiden voyage. She was transferred from Titanics sister ship and gave birth in the week before Titanic left Southampton. The galley is where Jenny and her kittens normally lived, cared for by the victualling staff who fed them kitchen scraps. Stewardess Violet Jessop later wrote in her memoir that the cat "laid her family near Jim, the, whose approval she always sought and who always gave her warm devotion."Jenny and her kittens went down with the ship.
Kiddo
Kiddo seemed to have stowed away on the airship America, when it left from Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1910 to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Kiddo was upset at first by the experience, but settled in and, evidently, was better at predicting bad weather than the barometer. The airship's engines failed, and the small crew and Kiddo abandoned the America for lifeboats when they sighted the Royal Mail steamship SS Trent near Bermuda. Kiddo then was retired from being a ship's cat and was taken care of by Edith Wellman Ainsworth, the daughter of the American journalist, explorer, and aviator, Walter Wellman, who made the daring attempt.Mrs Chippy
Mrs Chippy was the ship's cat aboard Endurance, the ship used by Sir Ernest Shackleton for his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. When the ship was lost, having become trapped and eventually crushed in pack ice, Shackleton ordered the sled dogs and Mrs Chippy shot, as Shackleton had decided that the animals could not be kept during the arduous journey ahead.Nansen
Nansen was the ship's cat on, which was used for the Belgian Antarctic Expedition. He was brought on board by cabin boy Johan Koren, and was named after Fridtjof Nansen. He died on 22 June 1898, and was buried in the Antarctic.Peebles
Peebles was the ship's cat aboard HMS Western Isles. Another cat who became a favourite of the ship's crew, he was known to be particularly intelligent and would shake the hands of strangers when they entered the wardroom.Pooli
Pooli served aboard a United States attack transport during the Second World War.She was awarded with three service ribbons and four battle stars.
Rinda
Rinda was the ship's cat on the Norwegian cargo ship, which was torpedoed and sunk during World War II. When the surviving crew realized that their beloved ship's cat was not on board the lifeboat, they rowed around in the night until they finally heard a pitiful "miauu" in the distance. "We rowed as hard as we could and laughed and cried when we lifted the sopping wet furball aboard". The cat became the ship's cat aboard the rescue ship, the British armed naval trawler, and was given the name Rinda after the previous ship.Simon
Simon was the ship's cat of HMS Amethyst during the Yangtze Incident in 1949, and was wounded in the bombardment of the ship which killed 25 of Amethyst’s crew, including the commanding officer. He soon recovered and resumed killing rats and keeping up the crew's morale. He was appointed to the rank of 'Able Seacat' Simon and became a celebrity after the ship escaped the Yangtze and returned to Britain. He later succumbed to an infection and died shortly after. Tributes poured in and his obituary appeared in The Times. He was posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal, the only cat ever to earn the award, and was buried with full naval honours.Tarawa
Tarawa was a kitten rescued from a pillbox during the Battle of Tarawa by the United States Coast Guard. She was a mascot aboard an LST, but did not get along with the LST's other mascot, a dog named Kodiak, and jumped ship ashore.Tiddles
Tiddles was the ship's cat on a number of Royal Navy aircraft carriers. He was born aboard, and later joined. He was often seen at his favourite station, on the aft capstan, where he would play with the bell-rope. He eventually travelled over during his time in service.Togo
Togo was the ship's cat on. A Persian cat, Togo was known for resting in the barrels of the ship's main battery.Trim
Trim was the ship's cat on a number of the ships under the command of Matthew Flinders during voyages to circumnavigate and map the coastline of Australia during 1801–1803. He became a favourite of the crew and was the first cat to circumnavigate Australia. He remained with Flinders until death. He has been the subject of a number of works of literature, and statues have been placed in his honour, including one that sits on a window sill at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney.Unsinkable Sam
Previously named Oscar, he was the ship's cat of the German battleship Bismarck. When she was sunk on 27 May 1941, only 116 out of a crew of over 2,200 survived. Oscar was picked up by the destroyer HMS Cossack. Cossack herself was torpedoed and sunk a few months later, on 24 October, killing 159 of her crew, but Oscar again survived to be rescued, and was taken to Gibraltar. He became the ship's cat of HMS Ark Royal, which was torpedoed and sunk in November that year. Oscar was again rescued, but it was decided at that time to transfer him to a home on land. By now known as Unsinkable Sam because of surviving the three ship sinkings, he was given a new job as shore duty mouse-catcher in the office buildings of the Governor General of Gibraltar because he still had "six lives to go". He eventually returned to the UK and spent the rest of his life at the 'Home for Sailors'. A portrait of him exists in the private collection of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.Today
The Royal Navy banned cats and other pet animals from all ships on the ocean in 1975 on hygiene grounds; however, cats are still common on many private ships.One notable example is Toolbox, the senior ship's cat, official warrant officer and "Captain's Assistant" aboard the modern Kalmar Nyckel. A celebrity in her own right, she is the subject of two books. A number of ship's cats were included in the chronicles for the National Geographic Magazine and detailed in the 1972 book Dove by Robin Lee Graham, which was adapted into the 1974 film The Dove.
In fiction
There are at least two books called The Ship's Cat: a 1977 children's book by Richard Adams and Alan Aldridge, and a 2000 novel by Jock Brandis. Matthew Flinders' Cat is a 2002 novel by Bryce Courtenay featuring tales about Trim, the ship's cat that circumnavigated Australia. In Fish Head, a 1954 children's book by Jean Fritz, the eponymous cat unwittingly becomes a ship's cat.In science fiction, the role of the ship's cat has been transferred to spaceships. Notable examples include Cordwainer Smith's 1955 short story "The Game of Rat and Dragon" and Andre Norton's 1968 novel The Zero Stone featuring a telepathic mutant feline named Eet. Robert A. Heinleins The Cat Who Walks Through Walls features a cat named Pixel who travels on various space adventures with the narrator. On film, Alien and the sequel Aliens feature Jones aboard Nostromo.
In the UK science fiction comedy Red Dwarf, a man called Lister was in stasis for 3 million years on the spaceship Red Dwarf when all other living beings had died except his pregnant cat. The cats evolved over the 3 million years into a humanoid and when Lister came out of stasis he met the last of them that was called Cat.