Twitter User Shared 14 Historical Photos Of Cats Chilling In Their Tiny Hammocks Aboard Naval Ships
Are you aware of how beneficial it is to own a pet? These days, life’s flooded with stress and anxiety. We constantly pressure ourselves until it eventually becomes the new norm—however, having a furry companion relaxes people and melts the worries away. In fact, previous studies have shown that having pets helps people lower their blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Plus, pets are great at listening and keeping secrets, so you’ll always have someone to chat to about your day!
More info: Twitter
Everybody loves seeing animals online and this Twitter user decided to fuel our addiction
Image credits: Manglewood
A Twitter user that goes by the name @Manglewood was kind enough to bless our eyes with an adorable thread. They’ve gathered several archive photos of the naval ships’ cats in their tiny hammocks. Not many of us are actually aware of this matter, but cats are great sailing partners.
@Manglewood made a historical photo list of cats who served on naval ships and had their own hammocks
Image credits: Manglewood
Back in the days, it was very common to have a cat aboard, as they’d protect the ship and its cargo from rodents, preventing chewed ropes and electric wires, as well as a number of diseases that would spread through those small gnawing mammals.
Image credits: Manglewood
An example would include rat fleas that transmit the plague, plus it’s also believed that rats on ships might have been the reason why the Black Death became a pandemic.
Image credits: Manglewood
Superstition also played a part in having a cat aboard, as people believed that they bring good luck.
Cats were essential on ships as they would protect the environment from rodents
Image credits: Manglewood
For example, sailors’ wives would keep a black cat at home as they thought that it’d use its powers, which would serve as some sort of protection for their husbands at the sea.
Image credits: Manglewood
Sailors themselves considered it to be a lucky sign if a cat would come upon the deck and unlucky if it would only come halfway and then turn around.
Image credits: Manglewood
Many others also thought that a cat’s sharp eyesight would help them out during a shipwreck at night, as they could easily detect distant lights.
Image credits: Manglewood
The Twitter thread went viral soon after, getting over 85k likes and over 22k retweets
Image credits: Manglewood
Image credits: Manglewood
Image credits: Manglewood
Image credits: Manglewood
Most of these photos were actually taken around WWII
Image credits: angryalgonquin
Talking about a shipwreck—there was a cat named Oscar on a German battleship. When the ship sunk, Oscar survived and got picked up by a different craft. He relived the same story three times until it was decided to give him a permanent home on land. And once Oscar got assigned to a new place, he was given a new nickname—Unsinkable Sam.
Image credits: McDonell44
However, since 1975, the Royal Navy doesn’t allow cats or any other pets to ride aboard anymore due to hygiene concerns.
Here are the honorable mentions from the thread
Image credits: mel_cbe
Image credits: TragicFrenchman
Some Twitter folks were so inspired by the post that they decided to reply with their own pictures.
Image credits: RidgewayGirl01
Image credits: MissCellaneou16
Image credits: HelenKennedy
Image credits: FirdaMaryvel
Image credits: LeashaKnight
Image credits: sunset_breaker
Some were thinking about how the cats were definitely mind-controlling the crew.
Image credits: buddywriterdude
Image credits: ButterflyGhost_
The post was warmly welcomed as it received 85K likes and almost 23K retweets. Bored Panda hopes that you enjoyed reading this article and is eager to know if you’ll be DIYing a hammock for your cat!
Adorable...but I feel bad for those ship cats because they very much could have been sunk during WWII...althought I am buying all the cat hammocks for my cats
The one cat, Convoy, did die in the war. His ship was torpedoed and he died with several of his crewmates.
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Why, because animals should be subjected to more human wars?
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Adorable...but I feel bad for those ship cats because they very much could have been sunk during WWII...althought I am buying all the cat hammocks for my cats
The one cat, Convoy, did die in the war. His ship was torpedoed and he died with several of his crewmates.
Load More Replies... Why, because animals should be subjected to more human wars?
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