Although a lot of cats hate water they like sea voyages. Some of them even nowadays are famous in a history of navy.

Unsinkable Sam

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England keeps Georgina Shaw-Baker‘s painting of ship‘s cat Oscar. Oscar deserved the huge attention because of his adventures during the II World War.

The origin and early life of Oscar are unknown as mainly all famous personalities. His history started in May 18^th 1941 when Nazi battleship Bismarc from Gotenhafen (the name of Polish harbour Gdynia) went to hunt for English merchant ships. There were 2200 seafarers on the ship and cat Oscar, which was brought by one sailor. The hunting was not successful; the battleship was hunt by English navy. After few days of battles “Bismarck” was sunk and only about 200 seafarers were saved.  Luckily, Oscar was picked up by the destroyer Cossack because seafarers were sorry for the cat. The name of cat they found was unknown so they named him Oscar. According to the International Code of Signals the letter ‘O’ (pronounced as ‘Oscar’) means ‘Man overboard’. Although it was only the cat it was also overboard.

Cossack herself was torpedoed and sunk a few months later, on 24 October, killing 159 of the crew, but again, Oscar survived to be rescued, and was taken to Gibraltar. He became the ship's cat of Ark Royal but she too 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, he was given a new job as mouse-catcher in the Governor General of Gibraltar's office buildings. He eventually returned to the UK and spent the rest of his life at the 'Home for Sailors'.

Unsinkable Sam finished his life on the shore in 1955.

Brave Simon

Simon was found wandering the dockyards of Hong Kong in March 1948 by 17-year-old Ordinary Seaman George Hickinbottom, a member of the crew of the British frigate Amethyst stationed in the city in the late 1940s. Simon was gaunt black cat with white neck. He was beloved by the seafarers and was named Simon. He soon integrated himself within the crew and officers, particularly because he was adept at catching and killing rats on the lower decks. Simon rapidly gained a reputation for cheekiness, leaving presents of dead rats in sailors' beds, and sleeping in the captain's cap.

Amethyst had to travel up the Yangtze River to Nanking to replace the duty ship there, Consort. Halfway up the river the ship became embroiled in the "Yangtze incident", when Chinese communist gun batteries opened fire on the frigate. One of the first rounds tore through the captain's cabin, seriously wounding Simon. He did manage to survive however, and after a period of recovery, he returned to his former duties.  The ship had become overrun with rats, and Simon took on the task of removing them with vigour, as well as raising the morale of the sailors.

Following the ship's escape from the Yangtze, Simon became an instant celebrity, lauded in British and world news, and presented with the "Animal VC", the Dickin Medal in 1948 (the Dickin Medal was instituted in 1943 in the United Kingdom by Maria Dickin to honor the work of animals in war. It is a bronze medallion, bearing the words "For Gallantry" and "We Also Serve" within a laurel wreath, carried on ribbon of striped green, dark brown and pale blue) as well as a Blue Cross medal, the Amethyst campaign medal, and the fanciful rank of "Able Seacat". At every port Amethyst stopped at on its route home, Simon was presented with honor, and a special welcome was made for him at Plymouth in November when the ship returned. Simon was, however, like all animals entering the UK, subject to quarantine regulations, and was immediately sent to an animal centre.

Whilst in quarantine, Simon contracted a virus and, despite the attentions of medical staff and thousands of well-wishers, died on 28 November 1949 from a complication of the viral infection caused by his war wounds. Hundreds, including the entire crew of Amethyst attended his funeral at the PDSA Ilford Animal Cemetery in East London.

The ship's cat has been a common sight on many trading, exploration, and naval ships. Cats have been carried on ships for a number of reasons, the most important being to catch mice and rats. Cats have a high ability to adapt to new surroundings, and were therefore highly suitable for service on a ship. They also offered companionship and a sense of home and security to sailors who could be away from home for long periods, especially in times of war. Cats were kept in ships as the ship talismans. Even famous W. Churchill for a long time had his cat Nelson.