Simon (cat)

What a tale this cat has. A sailor found this poor, bedraggled year-old stray cat and decided to smuggle him onto his ship, the HMS Amethyst (a sloop of the royal navy). Little Simon was so hungry he went around and caught every rat he saw, making him the sloops good and reliable mouser! The crew didn't mind and kept him on board, since he was cute AND useful. He was also seen as a sign of good luck, despite being black in colour!!! The ship's commander left and decided not to take Simon away. When the new commander (his name is skinner) came, he immediately fell in love with Simon, and they turned into the bestest of friends. But during their first mission together in the Yangtze River, the Chinese PLA launched an attack on HMS Amethyst and absolutely ruined the first cabin. (you can read more about this on the amethyst incident wiki page!) Skinner didn't survive but Simon sure did, albeit not without a bunch of wounds and burns. The medical team tried treating him but they didn't expect him to make it. Well guess what they were WRONG!!!! Simon kept controlling the ship's rat population even after the attack. He proved to be good company for the crew too cuz he's so adorable. When the HMS Amethyst finally escaped the Yangtze, the entirety of British celebrated. Thousands of letters were sent to him and a lieutenant was appointed to become his servant!!! Not even six months later, young Simon fell ill due to his wounds and died in honour. Every member of the Amethyst's crew was there for his funeral. His gravestone is at Ilford Animal Cemetery and will be there til the end of time... He was given three medals and the rank of an able seaman (he managed to kill a particularly nasty rat that fucked the food supply up. it's name was mao tse-tung. like The guy you know him). The 1950 novel Jennie is also dedicated to Simon, it's about a young boy who gets kicked out of his house and is raised by a nice sweet stray cat. Thank you Simon you should've lived longer to see the whole world. You should've been adopted. You should've been able to feel the warmth of the indoors and play with yarn and purr in your owner's lap

He definitely deserved the medal!