Ship's cats and harbour towns: how cats became travellers' companions

A job before a sofa

Long before cats had heated beds and window hammocks, a lot of them had jobs. One of the most important was going to sea.

Wooden ships carried grain, biscuits, rope and sailcloth. All of that attracted rats and mice. Rodents chewed through food stores and ropes, and they carried disease. A good cat on board was not a luxury. It was part of the crew.

How cats travelled the world

Cats are thought to have spread along trade routes for thousands of years, riding on ships from port to port. Wherever traders went, cats tended to hop off and settle in. That is part of the reason you find cats in harbour towns on nearly every coast.

Researchers who study cat DNA have found signs of this. Cat populations in some port cities share genetic links with cats from far away places that were connected by sea trade. In plain terms, sailors moved cats around the planet, mostly by accident and partly on purpose.

Why sailors liked having them

Pest control was the main reason, but it was not the only one.

Company on long voyages. Months at sea were lonely and hard. A cat gave sailors something soft to look after and something to talk to.

Luck and weather lore. Sailors were famously superstitious, and cats collected a lot of beliefs. Some crews thought a cat licking its fur against the grain meant a storm was coming. Others believed a happy ship's cat meant a safe voyage. Upsetting the cat was considered a bad idea.

Routine. A cat on board kept to its own patrols and naps. On a ship run by watches and bells, that steady little presence fit right in.

A few famous sea cats

Trim. Australians may already know this one. Trim was the cat who sailed with navigator Matthew Flinders in the early 1800s, including the voyage that circumnavigated Australia. Flinders wrote about Trim with real affection, describing a curious, clever cat who learned to swim and loved being part of the action. There is a statue of Trim near the Flinders statue outside the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney. It is worth a visit if you are nearby.

Simon. A cat on the British ship HMS Amethyst in 1949. He kept hunting rats even after being hurt during a long standoff on the Yangtze River, and he lifted the crew's spirits. He was later given an animal bravery award.

Mrs Chippy. Despite the name, Mrs Chippy was a tomcat. He belonged to the carpenter on Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition ship Endurance in 1914. The crew were fond of him and he climbed the rigging with ease.

Life in harbour towns

Not every working cat went to sea. Many lived around docks, warehouses, fish markets and pubs near the water. Harbour cats were often half wild, half community pets. Fishers tossed them scraps. Shop owners left out milk or water. Kids gave them names.

You can still see this in plenty of places today. Port towns around the Mediterranean are famous for their street cats. Closer to home, many older harbour suburbs have their own resident cats who sun themselves on bollards and ignore the tourists.

Do ships still carry cats?

Mostly, no. Many navies stopped allowing pets on board during the twentieth century for hygiene and safety reasons, and modern ships handle pests in other ways. Some small private boats still sail with cats, and there is a whole online community of sailors who travel with their cats in life jackets.

If you are tempted, it takes careful planning: a secure harness, a vet check, a safe place to retreat, and a cat who actually enjoys it. Plenty of cats would much prefer a sunny windowsill on dry land.

From the hold to the living room

It is a little funny to look at a cat curled up on the couch and think its ancestors may have sailed oceans earning their keep. The cat on your lap probably has a few sea dogs in its family tree. Or sea cats, anyway.

If you liked this look back, you might enjoy our other cat history pieces in the archive.