Short one this week for work-related reasons.
Three years after the discovery of the 20th century’s most infamous ship, Robert Ballard’s Argo set out on another mission. It was no Titanic, but the Kriegsmarine’s Bismarck had long ago left its own mark on the culture. There were movies, books and 1959, country singer Johnny Horton had a certified hit with the simply titled, “Sink the Bismark” [sic].
Ballard’s deep-towed undersea video camera sled located the battleship on June 8, 1989. On sinking, the ship had struck an underwater volcano, kickstarting a landslide in the process and sinking further down the slope. The ship, was “upright in good shape,” according to the oceanographer, who refused to disclose its exact resting place, citing fears of grave robbery.
One of the two largest battleships ever built by Germany, the Bismarck’s final eight days were spent blocking British merchant vessels as part of Operation Rheinübung. After several days of combat, the ship was scuttled by its own crew, to prevent additional casualties and block the allied forces from boarding. Ultimately, around 2,000 men died during the final days of the eight-month-old battleship.
Hours after its sinking, one crew member was found floating near the wreckage. The British destroyer HMS Cossack brought him on board. Unable to speak, the crew called him “Oscar,” a name adopted from the International Code of Signals for the second part of “Man Overboard.” The veracity of the story that found the black and white patched cat teaming up with the Allies during the Second World War has been a matter of some debate.
Oscar is said to have joined up with the Royal Navy, serving aboard the Cossack until the German submarine U-563 blew the front third off the ship, killing 159 of its crew. Once again, Oscar survived. This time the cat was brought aboard the Ark Royal, an aircraft carrier that had helped destroy the Bismarck some five months prior. The cat was again given a new name.
He was now “Unsinkable Sam.”
Three weeks after his rescue off the coast of Gibraltar, a torpedo from another Nazi submarine sunk the aircraft carrier. The cat was, once again, discovered alive, this time found clinging for dear life to a floating plank. He was, according to his latest rescuers, “angry but quite unharmed.”
Sam’s naval career was laid to rest along with the Ark Royal. The cat found a no doubt more suitable home in the office of the Gibraltar Governor, before moving a final time to a sailors’ home in Belfast.
He died of natural causes on dry land in 1955.
Sources:
Nazi Ship Bismarck Is Found in 'Good Shape' https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/14/world/nazi-ship-bismarck-is-found-in-good-shape.html
'Unsinkable Sam’ and 6 other tales of cats in the military https://www.businessinsider.com/unsinkable-sam-and-6-other-tales-of-cats-in-the-military-2016-1
Meet the Famous Cat, Unsinkable Sam https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/famous-cats-unsinkable-sam/