Hi, thanks for the tips and the stories. They help.

Graeme mentioned Matthew Flinders' cat Trim, who is probably one of the
most famous ship's cats. There's a whole website with a collection of
Flinders papers, including his longish tribute to Trim -- that's at
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/flinders/Displa...tXML Page=All

There are a ton of passing references in historical documents to cats
(and dogs) living on ships, who (from the context) seem to have been
kept partly as pets and partly as pest control. One of the neat things
that Flinders' account suggests is that (because Trim was born aboard
ship, and sailing voyages could be very long) there were probably whole
generations of cats that rarely if ever experienced land.

But I'm wondering about ship's cats now. I am getting the impression
that the practice has become less common than it used to be. "Our
ships have no cats on them!" growled the media rep for a major shipping
line when I called to inquire. The Royal Navy apparently does not
allow animals on board now (though this is something I need to confirm
still).

The people who keep ship's cats seem to be people who live aboard their
sloops and other small craft (small compared to Navy ships anyway).
That's who I'm beating the local marinas trying to find. I still need
leads if you've got them.
Happy holidays,

Martin
http://martinjohnbrown.net