Ship's Cat

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Can you sing:

"The cat came back the very next day;
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner;
But the cat came back, he just wouldn't stay away ..."

 

[Pusser]

For many years, we had a camp mascot dog at Albert Head. Went from OS Dummer to  CPO1 Dummer before he passed away.

Any abuse of Dummer was as near to a court martial offence as you could come, like any attempt on the lives of those $%^$%#@$^* peacocks at Royal Roads.

I remember Dummer at Albert Head (c. 1983) and I also heard tell of a Commodore's son who got turfed from Royal Roads for taking a tennis racquet to one of the peacocks (he wasn't really cut out fo the military life anyway).

 

[Pusser]

DC Div outside of Halifax had a black lab named.....Dee-Cee (If I recall), when I was there '96-'98 - Had the run of the place. Was actually a better watchdog than some of the weekend commissionaires of that era!! I know he was still there after I left but not sure what ever became of him. (Actually, I think "he" was a "she")
There is an intresting side bar story to the sinking of ATHABASKAN in Apr 1944 - Apparently, just as the ship was slipping to go out on patrol that evening, the ship's cat "Ginger" jumped across to the jetty, staying behind....an omen?.....

When I was at the DC School in 1984, "DC" was there.  I don't know how old he/she would have been then, but he/she was certainly no puppy.  Would it be the same dog 12-14 years later.?

 

[Pat in Halifax]

Pusser:
Possible as I heard he/she passed around 99/00. All said, I think the School had dog(s) since inception at the Purcell's Cove location and it is possible that they all received the same moniker??
I know shortly after the DeeCee I am referring to, staff was told they COULD NOT get another mascot-a little unfortunate.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Pusser, I know the commodore, a friend of mine - true story about his son.

 

[RememberanceDay]

Cheese wiz, It'd be awesome if there were mascots!

How abou' something hardy like a Newfoundlander

 

[Pusser]

I've met the son.  The Commodore (later a Rear Admiral as I recall) had his own legacy...

He and a certain Vice Admiral didn't get along, bu then again that particular VAdm didn't get along with a lot of people.

 

[Ex-SHAD]

Well aside from the infestation of cats that plague Esquimalt Dockyard (there was even a cat feeding station behind the Port Security Building), I don’t believe that shipboard cats were kept on past the end of the Second World War.

Apparently, the Royal Navy carried cats aboard their ships, until the 1960’s, when they were banned for health and safety reasons.

 

[Ping Monkey]

Speaking of CF mascots, I'm not sure if anyone was previously aware of one of Naden's original mascots "Bruno the Bear".

http://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.org/resource_pages/chars/naden_bear.html

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

No wonder all sailors wanted to serve in Stadaconna instead of Naden !

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The Coast Guard Hovercraft base at Sea island has had a cat since at least 1989. Prior to that they spent a fortune on pest control. One Captain said screw this, ordered a seaman to go to the SPCA and get the “Biggest and meanest cat you can find” We had two different cats when I was there. The first was called Victor and he was semi-psychopath, hated women and every morning he would line up his kills for inspection on the patio. If someone didn’t come out and admire his handiwork he would fling the bloody carcasses against the glass door till someone came out. He would offer his tummy for a rub from unsuspecting guests and then claw the snot out of them. If you rubbed his belly with a boot so he couldn’t hurt you, he would wait till you were busy and come up behind you and slice you from behind. He knew who buttered his bread and was nice to the CO. Victor finally disappeared without trace, we suspected that during our diving exercises we would find his body in the river with concrete overshoes. The 2nd cat named Reggie was the complete opposite, a big bundle of love, he was still there last time I checked, but his mousing days are over. The cats, their food and vet bills were line items and when CCG was moved from TC to DFO, they couldn’t believe we had a cat and we had to show how much he saved on pest control.

 

[Rheostatic]

The C&E branch has a peculiar affinity for water fowl.

A young lady at the Signals Association meeting in Quebec in 1935 originally presented Ermintrude the duck to the Corps. The duck was boarded out with a local farmer near Camp Borden and died during the winter of 1937-38.

The mortal remains of Ermintrude were mounted and now rest in the C&E Museum.

When the addition of the Princess Anne Suite was completed the porcelain replica was place under glass and relocated to the suite.

A porcelain duck, a replica of the Corps first mascot Ermintrude rested in this room for generations. The porcelain replica was a gift from Her Royal Highness Princess Mary and was set on the dinner table at formal dinners.

In 1958 a mallard duck, Erintrude II, was presented to the School by the Adjutant, Captain D.A. Kidd. The new mascot became the responsibility of the Duck Master, 5 (Apprentice) Squadron. The next year, this mascot disappeared and its remains were never found although rumors exist that it was eaten by junior officers of the Corps.

 

[q_1966]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickin_Medal

Able Seacat Simon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_%28cat%29

 

[Leander93]

Saw a goldfish once but that was it. Wish we'd had cats on the gate vessels; would have cut down on the rats and mice.