Simon

Simon (c. 1947 -28 November 1949) was the ship's cat who served on the Royal Navy sloop HMS Amethyst. In 1949, during the Yangtze Incident, he received the PDSA's Dickin Medal after surviving injuries from a cannon shell, by raising morale and killing off a rat infestation during the incident. Simon was found wandering the dockyards of Hong Kong in March 1948 by 17-year-old Ordinary Seaman George Hickinbottom, a member of the crew of the British ... more

Simon (c. 1947 -28 November 1949) was the ship's cat who served on the Royal Navy sloop HMS Amethyst. In 1949, during the Yangtze Incident, he received the PDSA's Dickin Medal after surviving injuries from a cannon shell, by raising morale and killing off a rat infestation during the incident. Simon was found wandering the dockyards of Hong Kong in March 1948 by 17-year-old Ordinary Seaman George Hickinbottom, a member of the crew of the British frigate HMS Amethyst stationed in the city in the late 1940s. At this stage, it is thought Simon was approximately a year old, and was very undernourished and unwell. Hickinbottom smuggled the cat aboard ship, and Simon soon ingratiated himself with the crew and officers, particularly as he was adept at catching and killing rats in the lower decks. Simon rapidly gained a reputation for cheekiness, leaving presents of dead rats in sailors' beds and sleeping in the captain's cap. The crew viewed Simon as a lucky mascot, and when the ship's... less