Simon ( cat ) 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 , raising morale , and killing off a rat infestation during his service . Origin . 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 because he was adept at catching and killing rats on 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 commander changed later in 1948 , the outgoing Ian Griffiths left the cat for his successor Lieutenant Commander Bernard Skinner , who took an immediate liking to the friendly animal . However , Skinner ' s first mission in command of the " Amethyst " was to travel up the Yangtze River to Nanking to replace the duty ship there , HMS " Consort " . Halfway up the river the ship became embroiled in the Yangtze incident , when Chinese Communist gun batteries opened fire on the frigate . One of the first rounds tore through the captain ' s cabin , seriously wounding Simon . Lieutenant Commander Skinner died of his wounds soon after the attack . Recovery . The badly wounded cat crawled on deck , and was rushed to the medical bay , where the ship ' s surviving medical staff cleaned his burns , and removed four pieces of shrapnel , but he was not expected to last the night . He managed to survive , however , and after a period of recovery , returned to his former duties in spite of the indifference he faced from the new ship ' s captain Lt Cdr John Kerans . While anchored in the river , the ship had become overrun with rats , and Simon took on the task of removing them with vigour , as well as raising the morale of the sailors . Following the ship ' s escape from the Yangtze , Simon became an instant celebrity , lauded in British and world news , and presented with the " Animal Victoria Cross " , the Dickin Medal , as well as a Blue Cross medal , the " Amethyst " campaign medal , and the fanciful rank of " Able Seacat " . Thousands of letters were written to him , so much that one Lt Stuart Hett was appointed " cat officer " to deal with Simon ' s post . At every port " Amethyst " stopped at on its route home , Simon was presented with honour , and a special welcome was made for him at Plymouth in November when the ship returned . Simon was , however , like all animals entering the UK , subject to quarantine regulations , and was immediately sent to an animal centre in Surrey . Death . Whilst in quarantine , Simon contracted a virus and , despite the attentions of medical staff and thousands of well - wishers , died on 28 November 1949 from a complication of the viral infection caused by his war wounds . Hundreds , including the entire crew of HMS " Amethyst " attended his funeral at the PDSA Ilford Animal Cemetery in East London . His gravestone reads : IN < br > MEMORY OF < br > " SIMON " < br > SERVED IN < br > H . M . S . AMETHYST < br > MAY 1948 — NOVEMBER 1949 < br > AWARDED DICKIN MEDAL < br > AUGUST 1949 < br > DIED 28TH NOVEMBER 1949 . < br > THROUGHOUT THE YANGTZE INCIDENT < br > HIS BEHAVIOUR WAS OF THE HIGHEST ORDER < br > Simon is also commemorated with a bush planted in his honour in the Yangtze Incident Grove at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire . In 1950 , the writer Paul Gallico dedicated his novel " Jennie " to Simon .