In October 1944 the crew of No. 8 TO 12 MARCH 1942. She was determined to go ashore at every port where the ship docked but, as with some other ship's cats, she had an amazing homing instinct and the uncanny ability to arrive back on board shortly before sailing time. He was picked up by the British destroyer HMS Cossack, but she too was torpedoed a few months later, on 24 October, with the loss of 159 lives. Maizie took her turn at eating malted milk tablets and condensed food with the men, and even comforted those suffering from exposure or seasickness by going from one to another 'almost like a mother'. Discover artworks, explore venues and meet artists. Meet The Squander Bug. In 1944 when the photo was taken she was on training duties in the United States, including Hawaii. There's a fine painting of Scouse in the National Maritime Museum, but we are unable to reproduce it here owing to copyright difficulties. Meet The Squander Bug. This was a Flower class corvette on Atlantic convoy duties, and one of the crew later recalled some memories of ship's cat U-Boat. Susan was given to a lieutenant on the craft shortly before sailing one day and, being a former street cat, was found to have fleas. Some ships had more than one cat (and many kittens were born at sea); and ship's cats were able to, as it were, 'rise through the ranks' to become the mascot of a particular part of a ship, such as the engine room or one of the mess-decks, before going on to maybe ultimately become the 'official' mascot of the whole vessel. The captain said that was a good sign. Ominously, it was also stated that cats wearing no collar were to be 'summarily dealt with'. This was a Hunt class escort destroyer of the Royal Navy, launched in 1943 and named after a foxhunt in the northern English county Northumberland (now Northumbria). You can download low-resolution, watermarked files from the IWM website free of charge, for private and non-commercial use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence. Log in or sign up to leave a comment Log In Sign Up. This was a steam gunboat, launched on the river Clyde in Scotland in 1941. From the many stories involving cats at sea during wartime, here are some we have come across. Barham went on to see service in the Second World War but was was sunk by a U-boat in 1941. HMS Shropshire London Class Heavy Cruiser; Your comment. Naval General Service Medal. The photograph shows members of the Australian Army 15th Battalion leaving Australia for England on the ship on 20 December 1916. Kodiak, the ship's canine mascot, however, didn't think much of this intruder in his domain, and the two didn't get along, so he stuck with the enlisted men and Tarawa decided she preferred her privileges with the officers. She served on the China Station in 1919-20 as the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief. The latest known photo of Fishcakes was taken aboard the ship in late 1940, so it is quite likely that he did perish with the ship, the sinking of which was accompanied by huge loss of human life. Ken was born on 10th September, 1921 in Hamilton, Victoria. Not wishing to transfer these unwelcome guests to the wardroom, and having no flea powder, the officer bathed Susan in warm disinfectant. Welcome to our ebay shop! His father fought as a soldier in World War 1 and following a serious illness he passed away at age 36 in November, 1926, leaving a wife and 3 young sons, Clive (8), Kenneth (5) and Keith (3 months). The cat at the shore base, HMS Vernon, was duly supplied with his smart collar, as pictured. HMS London was involved in the 1949 Yangtze Incident, along with Amethyst, Consort and Black Swan. report. Our photo was contributed by Mrs Jeanine Hardcastle, to whom thanks; the quality is poor as it is from an old newspaper cutting, but it shows Sooty wearing a 'miniature VC' fashioned for her by her shipmates. Flotsam HMS Shropshire was a Royal Navy (RN) heavy cruiser of the London sub-class of County class cruisers. Our featured feline at the head of the page is Socks, pictured in 2003 surveying his 'estate' in the early morning sunshine. HMP & YOI Stoke Heath is a Closed Category C Adult male and Young Adult site, with a small Cat D unit which opened in November 2012. 100% Upvoted. A Flower class corvette on Atlantic, Mediterranean and Arctic convoy duties, and her ship's cat was Monty. A BBC radio commentator, reporting the event to the world, noticed her and referred to her presence as 'a symbol of the importance servicemen and -women attached to their animal friends'. Her ship's cat, name unknown, is seen here sitting in the muzzle of one of the ship's 6-inch guns. Cat/dog image © and reproduced by kind permission of the National Maritime Museum, London. Indy with his favorite feather toy smugly surveying the humans Marjorie Shropshire It was a bad omen, and the sailors knew it. You use some specific ships not because they're just good but because you like them as humans. Related content. Cocoa Noel Memphis looking re(g)ally smug Julie Hoffman. Palmer, OBE, in 1944. The development of the anti-aircraft cruiser began in 1935 when the Royal Navy re-armed HMS Coventry and HMS Curlew. document.write("PLEASE ASK"); Hall with the ship's cats, Snow and Mouse. You don't play Azur Lane just for fun. See map. Cat's intuition? Here he is 'jumping through the hoop' formed by the arms of Lt Cdr R.B. The following abbreviations are used for military ships: HMS=British, HMAS=Australian, HMNZS=New Zealand, USS=American. One short but quite important role the ship fulfilled later on in the war was to carry Winston Churchill and various dignitaries across the Channel to Normandy shortly after Operation Overlord, the 1944 D-Day landings. The third ship to bear the name, the Merrimack was a fleet oiler acquired by the United States Navy at the end of 1941. Discover artworks, explore venues and meet artists. A minesweeper in the early years of WW2, with two ship's cats, Ginger and Minnie. A striking image showing ground crews battling the elements in front of a snow-covered Voyager aircraft is … Ship's cat Minnie of the cruiser Argonaut was one of the most travelled of naval cats. //END --> no comments yet. Very shy at first, Peggy felt at home with the crew before long, but her best friend was Mireau. It was scooped out of the water in a net and became the ship's cat.