Lost at sea

Twitter is like a box o’ choc’lates; you never know what you’re gonna find. This came across my feed yesterday, and even though it’s on the Internet and therefore de facto true, I did a bit of digging.

Also on the Internet, but still…

So, it turns out that, yes indeed, there was a ship’s cat named Red Lead serving on HMAS Perth at the start of WWII. This was not an unusual circumstance, as—aside from providing purrs and other morale emoluments—cats were often a very practical addition to a ship’s complement, because they kept the vermin down.

But evidently after his first foray into a battle on the light cruiser, off Java in February 1942, Red Lead rethought the seafaring life and tried several times to abandon ship when Perth pulled into port for resupply. He was put back aboard, as it was considered bad luck to lose your ship’s cat, but he definitely wasn’t happy about it.

The ship’s log noted, “Red Lead, ship’s kitten, endeavoured to desert, but was brought back on board, despite vigorous protests.”

Sadly, both the crew and Red Lead were right, because shortly after Perth put back out to sea in the company of USS Houston, the Allied ships engaged with the Japanese fleet off the coast of Java, and Perth was sunk. More than half the ship’s company went down with her, including poor little Red Lead.

Well, I don’t know if there are ship’s cats any more, in anyone’s navy. But I do like that the Aussies have added tributes to Red Lead on every ship that has borne the name HMAS Perth. Viz.:

So thanks for an interesting bonbon, Twitter. I’ll just have a poke around and see if you got any Bordeaux in that box.