Cats are afraid of water? No way, and the truth is maybe water should be afraid of cats, because history’s toughest feline adventurers have been sailing cats. Even in the darkest days of feline persecutions sailors welcomed cats on board, having bonded with them as allies to mankind and essential crew members. And as the sailors expanded their routes, the cats expanded their domain. The Age of Exploration became the Age of Feline Expansion, as ships took them around the globe. The finest sailing cats became the true heroes of the feline world, with monuments erected in their honor. Trim, who sailed with Captain Matthew Flinders, helped map Australia and was the first animal ever recorded to circumnavigate the globe. He is honored with statues in both Australia and England. Poor Chippy, a tabby from Scotland, died in Antarctica on the ill fated expedition of the Endurance but is honored with a statue in Wellington, New Zealand. And the greatest of all, Simon the Able Sea Cat, risked his own life to save the men of the HMS Amethyst, stranded on the Yangtze River in the 1940s. The only cat ever to be awarded the animal equivalent of a Victoria’s Cross, his heroism made him the first true international feline celebrity, and it was the publicity surrounding him that finally proved to the world that cats were just as fine and loyal a pet as dogs. So get ready to set sail as feline historian Dr. Paul Koudounaris tells the forgotten history of nautical cats.