The Unsinkable Sam
Historical 1941 · German Bismarck / Royal Navy / HMS Cossack / HMS Ark Royal
Black-and-white WWII ship's cat who survived the sinking of three warships in seven months and lived out his life in a sailors' home in Belfast.
Originally a black-and-white tomcat aboard the German battleship Bismarck, Sam was rescued by the Royal Navy after the Bismarck's sinking on 27 May 1941 and joined the destroyer HMS Cossack. The Cossack was torpedoed five months later on 24 October 1941, and Sam was rescued again. He then transferred to the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, which was torpedoed on 14 November 1941. Sam was found clinging to a floating plank and rescued a third time. After this run, the Royal Navy retired him to the Governor of Gibraltar's residence and later to a sailors' home in Belfast, where he died in 1955. His official portrait by Georgina Shaw-Baker hangs in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
0 words. Sources: see /methodology.
Tags
black
white
real
ship-cat
world-war-2
royal-navy
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