The Cossack was torpedoed by a U boat in October 1941, killing 159 members of the crew. Oscar survived.
Oscar and surviving crew were rescued by the HMS Legion. Oscar never joined Legion's crew. He was put ashore with the rest of the survivors at Gibraltar. He was then assigned to the HMS Ark Royal.
The Ark Royal was hit by a torpedo and sank and again Oscar was rescued, this time by HMS Lightening.
Oscar was then assigned to the Governor of Gibraltar's office and from there he was "transferred" back to Belfast, where he sat out the rest of the war.
His portrait is in the National Maritime Museum
Paws On Your Heart has additional information
Oscar died in 1955 but does have a facebook page!
Oh my goodness-talk about dipping into those 9 lives of his! Wow what a story. I can't even imagine that poor kitty floating on a piece of debris in the ocean all by himself. What luck that someone found him.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he lived out the last of his life on dry land-he'd had enough excitement!
You find the best stories............. :)
Carol, I liked this one also. Really enjoy adding extra "stuff" to the blog. It's always fun to learn something new.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I love your blog, Linda.........you find so much interesting "stuff"..........it's a treat to stop by every day. And you're so right-it's a lot of fun to learn something new every day-keeps the barnacles off the brain. :)
Delete