The Miraculous Cat That Survived THREE Shipwrecks

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The Miraculous Cat That Survived THREE Shipwrecks

There ain't no exterminators in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean -- and if there are, they're really lost. They've got bigger problems to deal with than boat rats. That's why it's standard practice for ships to keep cats aboard -- cats like Oscar, who was stationed on a German ship, the Bismarck, in 1941. He kept the ship pest-free, eventually earning himself the rank of Purrrrivate.

The Miraculous Cat That Survived THREE Shipwrecks
German Federal Archives
Just kidding, obviously. He made Furrst Lieutenant.

The Bismarck sank on its maiden mission, but Oscar didn't. He was miraculously rescued by the HMS Cossack, a British destroyer. Realizing that Allied rats probably taste as good as Axis rats, Oscar willingly defected to the opposing team. Incredibly, the Cossack sank later that year ... but Oscar didn't.

This time he was rescued by the HMS Legion, and would eventually go on to serve on an aircraft carrier, the HMS Ark Royal. By this point, he'd earned a new name: "Unsinkable Sam." Which was apparently tempting fate, because the Ark Royal was soon sank by the Germans.

But Sam wasn't.

Sam was rescued by the Legion (again) as well as the HMS Lightning. Sam would soon end his naval career, and become a landlubbin' mouse catcher on the mainland, but his curse stayed at sea. Both the Legion and the Lightning sank within the next two years. If all of Europe wasn't attached to the Earth's crust, Sam probably would've sank that, too.

Your cat will never be this cool. Let him sit in a cat tree and do nothing.

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For more, check out Creepy Fact: Orangutans Can Use 'Hitmen' and The Nazi Outpost In Canada That No One Noticed.

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