Unsinkable Sam—originally named Oscar—was said to be the ship’s cat aboard the German battleship Bismarck, one of the most feared warships of World War II. In May 1941, after a massive pursuit by the Royal Navy, Bismarck was sunk in the North Atlantic. Of the more than 2,000 men aboard, only a handful survived. According to the legend, Oscar was found floating on wreckage days later—alive, soaked, but unharmed. He was rescued by British sailors and brought aboard a destroyer, where his improbabl

Simon was not just a ship’s cat, he became a silent lifeline during one of the most dangerous naval standoffs of the twentieth century. Found as a weak kitten in Hong Kong, Simon was taken aboard the British warship HMS Amethyst without anyone knowing that he would soon face war alongside soldiers. In 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, the ship was suddenly attacked while sailing through the Yangtze River, an event later known as the Yangtze Incident. The ship was heavily damaged, the captain w