Wednesday 3rd April 2024
Difficulty: Medium

Ship's cats (Quiz #502)

Winston Churchill greets Blackie, the ship's cat of HMS Prince of Wales, in 1941. Photo: Capt. Horton, War Office official photographer. (Public domain)

Cats have been carried on ships since ancient times for many reasons, most importantly to control rodents.

1. Mrs Chippy was a ship's cat who accompanied Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917. Why was Mrs Chippy so called, in spite of being a male cat?

A. He was mis-identified as a female cat

B. It followed the ship's carpenter, Harry "Chippy" McNish, around like an over-attentive wife

C. He was originally called "Mr Chips", but Shackleton misheard his name as "Mrs Chippy", which stuck

2. Simon was the ship's cat of HMS Amethyst in 1949, whose duties included killing rats and keeping up the crew's morale. What unofficial rank was he given?

A. Catswain

B. Able-Seacat

C. Chief Catty Officer

3. Oscar, also known as Unsinkable Sam, was a ship's cat during WWII who survived three sinkings. Which of these statements about Oscar is NOT true?

A. He served in both the German Navy and the Royal Navy

B. He eventually ran out of lives while serving on his fourth ship

C. When the crew of his second ship rescued him, they called him "Oscar", unaware that this had been his name on his first ship

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