“Cushion cover embroidered by a sailor of HMS ‘Chester’ (1915) after the Battle of Jutland 1916, portraying 'Hoskyn’ the ship’s cat flanked by Union Flags with the inscription 'HMS Chester’.” www.rmg.co.uk/collections/...
Here is a thread of ship's cats in tiny hammocks if anyone would like to enjoy it. Yes I know about Mrs. Chippy. I don't need people to keep telling me about Mrs. Chippy. bsky.app/profile/cats...
That's fascinating! This reminds me of a thread that @garius.bsky.social did a while back (and a more recent one about the history of litter trays on ships. Yes, really).
I recommend giving him a follow! Neat history trivia and cat photos: what's not to like? 😺
The thing about the myth is that the passport is more believable since my cat has an EU passport just like this one and is chipped so can be identified without any collar in the whole EU at the vet with the RFID scanner.
He doesn't have the tiny hammock though 😁 (yet?)
A common feature of ships going back to ancient times was the 'Ship's Cat.'
#Cats were great for keeping rat populations low, preventing loss of stores, damage to ropes & rigging and in modern times, electric lines & reducing risk of disease spread.
