Initially known as Oskar, this black and white patched cat somehow managed to be the common thread in the sinking of not one, not two, but three warships during WWII. After surviving the sinking of the German Bismarck and the British HMS Cossack, Oskar was nicknamed ‘Unsinkable Sam’ and was transferred to the HMS Ark Royal, which coincidentally had been instrumental in the destruction of Bismarck.

On 14 November 1941, returning from Malta, the Ark Royal was torpedoed by the German submarine U-81. Despite desperate efforts to save the ship, the Ark Royal succumbed to the sea, joining the list of Sam's ill-fated homes. Remarkably, Sam was found “angry, but unharmed,” clinging to a plank. With a track record like that, one might think twice before inviting him aboard.