Unsinkable Sam

multiple image
align = right
direction = vertical
header = Sam's three ships
header_align = center
header_background =
width = 200


width1 = 200
caption1 = "Bismarck"


width2 = 200
caption2 = HMS "Cossack"


width3 = 200
caption3 = HMS "Ark Royal"

"Unsinkable Sam" (also known as "Oscar" [In some accounts spelled as "Oskar"] ) was the nickname given to a ship's cat who saw service in both the Kriegsmarine and Royal Navy during the Second World War, serving on board three vessels and surviving the sinking of all three.citation
first = Sam | last = Stall
title = 100 Cats Who Changed Civilization: History's Most Influential Felines
pages = 57-58
publisher = Quirk Books
year = 2007
isbn = 1594741638]

ervice

"Bismarck"

The black and white patched cat had been owned by an unknown crewman of the German battleship "Bismarck". He was on board the ship on 18 May 1941 when it set sail on "Operation Rheinübung", "Bismarck"'s first and only mission. "Bismarck" was sunk after a fierce sea-battle on 27 May, from which only 115 from its crew of over 2,200 survived. Hours later, Oscar was found floating on a board and picked from the water, the only survivor to be rescued by the homeward-bound British destroyer HMS "Cossack".citation
first = Janusz | last = Piekałkiewicz
authorlink = Janusz Piekałkiewicz
title = Sea War, 1939-1945 (translated by Peter Spurgeon)
page = 142
publisher = Historical Times
year = 1987
isbn = 978-0-713-71665-8] Unaware of what his name had been on "Bismarck", the crew of "Cossack" named their new mascot "Oscar".

HMS "Cossack"

He served on board "Cossack" for the next few months as it carried out convoy escort duties in the Mediterranean and north Atlantic. On 24 October 1941, "Cossack" was escorting a convoy from Gibraltar to the United Kingdom when it was severely damaged by a torpedo fired by the German submarine "U-563".Piekałkiewicz, p. 170] Crew were transferred to the destroyer HMS "Legion", and an attempt was made to tow the badly listing "Cossack" back to Gibraltar, but worsening weather conditions meant the task became impossible and had to be abandoned. On 27 October, a day after the tow was slipped, "Cossack" sank to the west of Gibraltar. The initial explosion had blown off one third of the forward section of the ship, killing 159 of the crew, but Oscar survived this too and was brought to the shore establishment in Gibraltar.

HMS "Ark Royal"

Now nicknamed "Unsinkable Sam", he was soon transferred to the aircraft carrier HMS "Ark Royal", which ironically had been instrumental in the destruction of "Bismarck". However, Sam was to find no more luck there, and when returning from Malta on 14 November 1941, this ship too was torpedoed, this time by the submarine "U-81". Attempts were also made to tow the "Ark Royal" to Gibraltar, but the unstoppable inflow of water made the task a futile one and the carrier eventually rolled over and sank 30 miles from Gibraltar. The slow rate at which the ship sank however meant that all but one of the crew could be saved. The survivors, including Sam, who had been found clinging to a floating plank by a motor launch,citation
last = Imperial War Museum
title = The Animals’ War: Special Exhibitions Gallery
url = http://london.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/74/AnimalsWar/images/AnimalsWarObjects.pdf
format = pdf
accessdate = 2008-01-27] and described as "angry but quite unharmed"citation
first = William | last = Jameson
title = Ark Royal: The Life of an Aircraft Carrier at War 1939-41
page = 372
year = 2004
publisher = Periscope Publishing
isbn = 1904381278] were transferred to HMS "Lightning" and the same HMS "Legion" which had rescued the crew of "Cossack". "Legion" would itself be sunk in 1942, and "Lightning" in 1943.

Retirement

The loss of "Ark Royal" proved the end of Sam's shipborne career and he was transferred first to the offices of the Governor in Gibraltar, and then sent back to the United Kingdom, where he saw out the remainder of the war living in a seamen's home in Belfast. [Piekałkiewicz, p. 173]

Sam died in 1955.

A pastel portrait of Sam (titled "Oscar, the Bismarck's Cat") by the artist Georgina Shaw-Baker is in the possession of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

References

Further reading

* citation
first = Val | last = Lewis
title = Ships' Cats in War and Peace
publisher = Nauticalia
year = 2001
isbn = 978-0953045815
* citation
first = Patrick | last = Roberts
title = Pur-n-Fur: Famous Felines
url = http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/famous/simon.html