OSCAR’S REVENGE

Oscar was rather miserable and bedraggled, well you would be if you’ve just had your ship blown out from under your feet, or in this case paws, and spent time floating around in the North Atlantic on a piece of wood, bad enough for a human, but a cat!

Oscar, until it was sunk, was the German battleship BISMARCK ships cat and was one of the 110 (or perhaps he made it 111), survivors of the action. He was rescued by the ships company of HMS Cossack, having been spotted among the debris and bodies, taken aboard and revived, perhaps allowed “sippers;”! (A small mouthful of rum)

He was subsequently adopted by the Cossacks ships company, may even have been victualled in as “G”, (allowed an issue of rum), which concerned messmates would, of course, consume on his behalf, after all rum is not good for ships cats! (I have to drink my cats issue!)

Some five months after his rescue, COSSACK was sunk so once more Oscar abandoned ship for a piece of wood, he’d passed his swimming test, and was found and rescued by the ships company of the ARK ROYAL.

However in November 1941 Oscar once more found himself swimming , this time in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean, ARK ROYAL had been sunk, however Oscar was once again rescued, this time by HMS LEGION.

It was decided that Oscars record suggested he might be more of a liability than an asset, (perhaps a fifth columnist), accordingly he was landed into the custody of the Provost Marshall in Gibraltar, as suspected of being a “jinx” .

Perhaps the “jinx” label wasn’t that far fetched, HMS LEGION was sunk off Malta some 15 months later, on the other hand by the time Oscar was landed in Gib he only had four lives left so perhaps he thought, “pension trap” it’s time I swallowed the anchor!

He was drafted to an Old Sailors Home in Belfast, (couldn’t risk Gib being sunk!), where he ended his days in 1955,an elderly, (in cat terms), sea cat of 15 years old.

Northern Ireland, and indeed Gibraltar remain afloat to this day!

Grant Ness