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27:
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to
Gibraltar, but the inflow of water made the task futile. The carrier rolled over and sank 30 miles from Gibraltar. The slow rate at which the ship sank 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 the crew of a
302:. The initial explosion had blown off one third of the forward section of the ship, killing 159 of the crew; however, Oscar survived this, too, and was subsequently brought to the shore establishment in Gibraltar. The crew were transferred to the destroyer
226:
on 27 May, and only 115 of her crew of over 2,100 survived the engagement. Hours later, Oscar was purportedly found floating on a board and picked from the water by the
British destroyer
313:
back to
Gibraltar. However, worsening weather conditions meant the task became impossible and had to be abandoned. On 27 October, a day after the tow was slipped,
809:
457:. There were only a limited number of human survivors, as British ships had to abandon picking up survivors as there was believed to be a U-boat in the area.
814:
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called the "Home for
Sailors". Sam died in 1955. A pastel portrait of Sam by the artist Georgina Shaw-Baker (1860–1951) is in the possession of the
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both for practical reasons, including there being no survivor account of him there, and because two contradictory photos exist.
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26:
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194:
166:
657:
Stall, Sam (2007), 100 Cats Who
Changed Civilization: History's Most Influential Felines, Quirk Books, pp. 57–58,
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and then sent back to the United
Kingdom, where he saw out the remainder of the war living in a seaman's home in
427:
819:
466:
208:
296:
419:
158:
The cat's original name is unknown. The name "Oscar" was given by the crew of the
British destroyer
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The black-and-white-patched cat was supposedly owned by an unknown crewman of the German battleship
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332:
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442:", because – for example – there are pictures of two different cats identified as Oscar/Sam.
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proved the end of Sam's shipborne career. He was transferred first to the offices of the
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135:
107:
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143:
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179:" (the German spelling, "Oskar", was sometimes used, since he was a German cat).
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that rescued him from the sea following the sinking of the German battleship
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284:
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for the next few months as the ship carried out convoy escort duties in the
366:). However, Sam was to find no better luck there, and when returning from
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423:
292:
73:
48:
520:
100 Cats Who
Changed Civilization: History's Most Influential Felines
438:
Some authorities question whether Oscar/Sam's biography might be a "
348:
Now nicknamed "Unsinkable Sam", the cat was soon transferred to the
358:, which coincidentally had been instrumental in the destruction of
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188:
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and described as "angry but quite unharmed", were transferred to
207:
and was on board the ship on 18 May 1941 when she set sail on
53:
779:"Cats in 20th Century History (Cats in War-Unsinkable Sam)"
370:
on 14 November 1941, the ship was torpedoed, this time by
616:
Ark Royal: The Life of an
Aircraft Carrier at War 1939-41
694:– Private Collections of the National Maritime Museum"
705:Some doubt has been cast on Oscar's origins on the
309:, and an attempt was made to tow the badly listing
113:
103:
80:
67:
59:
47:
36:
31:Portrait of Unsinkable Sam by Georgina Shaw-Baker
675:"Baker, Georgina Shaw, 1860–1951 | Art UK"
723:Pursuit: The Chase and Sinking of the Bismarck
692:Oscar, Cat From the German Battleship Bismarck
130:, or by the Germanized spelling of his name,
8:
19:
449:'s detailed account of the sinking of the
25:
18:
641:, (2012), Story of HMS Lightning 1941-43
150:and survived the sinking of three ships.
697:(Framed drawing in pastel, 785 Ă— 610 mm)
445:There is no mention of this incident in
407:would itself be sunk in 1942, while the
478:
233:. Unaware of what his name had been on
175:for the letter 'O', which is code for "
810:Individual cats in the United Kingdom
618:, Periscope Publishing, p. 348,
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547:
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7:
16:Cat who survived three sinking ships
777:Vocelle, Laura (27 February 2015).
291:when she was severely damaged by a
14:
376:. Attempts were also made to tow
815:Military animals of World War II
486:Butkus, Venantas (8 July 2011).
241:named their new mascot "Oscar".
224:sunk after a fierce naval battle
171:. "Oscar" was derived from the
523:, Quirk Books, pp. 57–58,
317:sank to the west of Gibraltar.
552:Piekałkiewicz, Janusz (1987).
399:which had rescued the crew of
211:(German for Rhine Exercise),
138:who purportedly served during
1:
637:Dann,John & Gilroy Eric,
173:International Code of Signals
760:Ships' Cats in War and Peace
590:THE SINKING OF HMS ARK ROYAL
283:was escorting a convoy from
836:
805:German battleship Bismarck
762:. Shepperton: Nauticalia.
721:Kennedy, Ludovic (2001).
614:Jameson, William (2004),
488:"The fame of ships' cats"
24:
428:National Maritime Museum
265:The cat served on board
126:(known by his nickname,
701:Royal Museums Greenwich
467:List of individual cats
411:would be sunk in 1943.
688:Baker, Georgina Shaw.
345:
297:German submarine
279:. On 24 October 1941,
262:
198:
420:Governor of Gibraltar
331:
255:
192:
725:. Cassell & Co.
277:North Atlantic Ocean
209:Operation RheinĂĽbung
758:Lewis, Val (2001).
639:Struck by Lightning
517:Stall, Sam (2007),
21:
800:1955 animal deaths
498:on 11 October 2017
346:
263:
199:
76:, Northern Ireland
769:978-0-9530458-1-5
554:Sea War 1939-1945
530:978-1-59474-163-0
273:Mediterranean Sea
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690:"Item #PAJ2744:
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647:978-178035-480-4
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494:. Archived from
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350:aircraft carrier
218:s only mission.
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344:alongside her.
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128:Unsinkable Sam
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597:on 2021-05-02
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595:the original
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496:the original
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414:The loss of
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383:motor launch
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144:Kriegsmarine
140:World War II
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127:
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114:Years active
104:Notable role
89:Kriegsmarine
87:
820:Ship's cats
434:Historicity
63:Before 1941
794:Categories
732:0304355267
601:2021-05-02
563:0713716657
473:References
455:apocryphal
341:HMS Legion
148:Royal Navy
136:ship's cat
108:Ship's cat
95:Royal Navy
440:sea story
416:Ark Royal
409:Lightning
389:Lightning
378:Ark Royal
355:Ark Royal
353:HMS
338:sinking,
335:Ark Royal
323:Ark Royal
304:HMS
285:Gibraltar
117:1941–1955
741:45828404
707:Bismarck
572:15197891
461:See also
451:Bismarck
360:Bismarck
235:Bismarck
220:Bismarck
213:Bismarck
204:Bismarck
195:Bismarck
184:Bismarck
168:Bismarck
146:and the
134:) was a
81:Employer
502:25 June
424:Belfast
401:Cossack
364:Cossack
315:Cossack
311:Cossack
293:torpedo
281:Cossack
268:Cossack
259:Cossack
247:Cossack
239:Cossack
230:Cossack
162:Cossack
154:History
74:Belfast
49:Species
39:name(s)
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405:Legion
396:Legion
306:Legion
37:Other
368:Malta
299:U-563
216:'
132:Oskar
124:Oscar
43:Oscar
20:Oscar
764:ISBN
737:OCLC
727:ISBN
659:ISBN
643:ISBN
620:ISBN
568:OCLC
558:ISBN
525:ISBN
504:2017
394:HMS
387:HMS
373:U-81
333:HMS
321:HMS
275:and
257:HMS
245:HMS
228:HMS
222:was
160:HMS
71:1955
68:Died
60:Born
287:to
54:Cat
796::
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580:^
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538:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
