#mrs. chippy

[ltwilliammowett]

It is Ship's cat sunday and here is a pic of stowaway Perce Blackborow on Shackleton's Endurance with Mrs. Chippy, the ship's cat, before 1915

More about Chippy below

The tabby domestic cat had been brought on board by Harry McNish, the ship's carpenter known as "Chippy", and was given her name before it was discovered that she was a male. Mrs Chippy is described as a handsome, affectionate and good-natured cat. He proved to be a good catcher of mice and rats and was a favourite among the crew. The men were amused by the way Mrs Chippy seemed to enjoy strutting across the roofs of the kennels, always just out of reach of the rampaging dogs. What's more, the cat's climbing skills, even in the roughest seas, earned him respect. At the beginning of the voyage, on 13 September 1914, Mrs Chippy jumped through a porthole and fell into the sea. The officer on watch, Huberht Hudson (1886-1942), turned the ship around and had the cat brought back on board with the fishing net of biologist Robert Clark (1882-1950).

When the Endurance, which had already been trapped by pack ice in January 1915, could no longer withstand the pressure and sank at the end of October, Shackleton ordered all animals of no concrete use - three puppies, the sled dog Sirius, who could not be harnessed like the others, and Mrs Chippy - to be shot. In his book South, he later quoted his diary, saying that under the new circumstances they could not have afforded to feed "weaklings". The captain of the Endurance, Frank Worsley, defended Shackleton's decision in 1931 by pointing out that the cat would have been eaten by the dogs without the protection of the ship. In the case of Mrs Chippy and the puppies, it fell to Second Officer Thomas Crean to carry out the sentence.

Harry McNish never forgave the expedition leader. His resentment led to growing tensions between the two men, which one day culminated in an attempt by McNish to openly disobey orders. Although as a carpenter he undoubtedly played an important part in the successful rescue of the entire crew of the Endurance, he was one of the few who were not honoured with the Polar Medal for "disloyalty". He died in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1930 and was given a pauper's burial in the Karori Cemetery there. It was not until 1959 that the New Zealand Antarctic Society donated a gravestone to the veteran. In 2004, the society commissioned sculptor Chris Elliott to create a life-size bronze sculpture of Mrs Chippy, which has adorned McNish's grave ever since.

[polarexplorerspoll]

POLAR EXPLORERS SHOWDOWN: ROUND THREE

[the-meri-rose]

Made an improbable find at a northern LP Michigan thrift store! "Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition". It's written as if it were a real archived polar diary, complete with an introduction "written" by Lord Mouser-Hunt.

I'm about 30 pages in, and I don't think this book would make much sense to an actual kid or tween. But it is undeniably very cute and it was 53 cents.

[aalysspace]

Mr Chip was mad I intruded his special hello fresh time

[ratatatastic]

did you see lundy and mikksi cuddling during one of the scrums ❤️🇫🇮

i feel as though it would be a diservice to call lundy trying to get his dog-reactive pyrs to not bite the rowdy redbone hound at the dog park "cuddling" but yeah i mean i guess we can call it that 😭😭

he was fighting for his life and its utterly laughable that it was lundy of all people who had to hold mikksy back from taking a stupid penalty like oh girl take a look in the mirror first

[perenial]

we had one (1) copy of the shackleton little people big dreams book at work and its been haunting me for two months but i finally managed to sell it to today to someone asking for a good xmas gift for their 5 yr old nephew. get polarpilled kid

[irlcats-bracket]

Bracket 1 Round 3 Poll 4

Todd vs Toodles

TODD

This here. Right here. Is Todd. He is fat because? We don’t know, he gets fed normal amounts but he still manages to be fat. He is very soft and lovely. He has many many toes on each paw- the most submitter counted on one they believe was 12. He is the many-toe lad. The fat fellow. The lovey guy. The ultimate shedder (you would not BELIEVE how much this guy sheds. He creates an entire second cat DAILY!) Submitter hopes you like him, because they do :)

TOODLES

female, black fur with a white underbelly, very fluffy, green eyes

[selfconsciousfangirl]

Do I sometimes think of all the Mrs Chippy photographs we lost because I want to do an embroidery project? Yes and yes and yes

[spacecoffeeandcartoons]

Endurance's grumpy carpenter and his precious kitty <3

[polarexplorerspoll]

POLAR EXPLORERS SHOWDOWN: ROUND FOUR

[catpartyletsgo]

Mrs. Chippy - Antarctic Explorer Cat

At this point, we all know about Ernest Shackleton and his Antarctic expeditions, right? Did you also know there was a VIK (very important kitty) aboard the Endurance? In 1915, Shackleton and his crew set sail to Antarctica. One of the crewmembers, Scottish shipwright and carpenter Harry ‘Chippy’ McNish (chippy being a colloquial British term for a carpenter), brought his cat with him. Chippy…

[minminambus]

If they had their own silly fun story, would you read it? 🥺

[reidak-artcreature]

Derreka with Mrs Chippy

[nedlittle]

what level of pandemic brain is making an invitation for a stuffed animal's third birthday

[selfconsciousfangirl]

The most valuable resource I can share to interest you on polar exploration

I guess it's time to start moving some content from twt over here! For those who don't know me, I'm a public librarian with a special interest in polar and nautical history, and I love nothing more than connecting readers with good books. I've managed to convert some friends to my way of thinking, and one of them coined the phrase "sad boat books" to describe the types of books that I'm always reading and recommending. Here is my first list of sad boat books-- I can personally vouch for all of them!

New to sad boat? Start here to see if it’s for you!

Endurance by Alfred Lansing

Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton

The Worst Journey in the World- The Graphic Novel Volume 1: Making Our Easting Down adapted by Sarah Airriess from the book by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie and John Geiger

Terra Nova, A GREAT first expedition!

The Worst Journey in the World- The Graphic Novel Volume 1: Making Our Easting Down adapted by Sarah Airriess from the book by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

A First Rate Tragedy by Diana Preston

Robert Falcon Scott Journals- Captain Scott’s Last Expedition by Robert Falcon Scott

“I Love Ernest Shackleton” starter pack

Endurance by Alfred Lansing

Shackleton’s Boat Journey by Frank Worsley

The Endurance by Caroline Alexander

“I Hate Ernest Shackleton” starter pack

The Lost Men by Kelly Tyler-Lewis

Polar Castaways by Richard McElrea and David Harrowfield

Roald Roald Roald!

The Last Viking: The Life of Roald Amundsen by Stephen Bown

The South Pole by Roald Amundsen

The Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford*

*DISCLAIMER: this guy hates Captain Scott and gets most of the Scott details wrong, read for Roald only!

The Franklin Expedition

Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie and John Geiger

Erebus by Michael Palin

May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth: Letters of the Lost Franklin Expedition edited by Russell A. Potter, Regina Koellner, Peter Carney, and Mary Williamson

Non-polar sad boats

The Bounty by Caroline Alexander

Batavia’s Graveyard by Mike Dash

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

In The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

Sometimes a sad balloon can be a sad boat

The Expedition by Bea Uusma

The Ice Balloon by Alec Wilkinson

Karluk/Wrangel Island, the expeditions of my heart

Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk by Buddy Levy

The Ice Master by Jennifer Niven

The Karluk’s Last Voyage by Robert A. Bartlett

The Last Voyage of the Karluk: A Survivor’s Memoir of Arctic Disaster by William Laird McKinlay

Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven

Miscellaneous sad boat books that are well worth your time

The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance by Mensun Bound

In The Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides

Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton

Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration by David Roberts

Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition by Buddy Levy

If you read and enjoy any of these, please let me know!