Mrs. Chippy

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Mrs. Chippy was a cat which accompanied Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917, and along with the sled dogs was eventually shot after the expedition's ship, the Endurance, was destroyed when it became trapped in pack ice.

The tiger-striped tabby was taken on board the ship by Harry McNish, the carpenter, for the purposes of rodent control. One month after the Endurance set sail for Antarctica it was discovered that, despite her name, Mrs. Chippy was actually a male, but by that time the name had stuck. He was described as "full of character" by members of the expedition and impressed the crew by his ability to walk along the ship's rails in even the roughest seas, but after the ship was destroyed it became clear that he would not survive, and Shackleton ordered him shot.

On 29 October 1915, Shackleton recorded:

This afternoon Sallie’s three youngest pups, Sue’s Sirius, and Mrs. Chippy, the carpenter’s cat, have to be shot. We could not undertake the maintenance of weaklings under the new conditions. Macklin, Crean, and the carpenter seemed to feel the loss of their friends rather badly.

McNish had become particularly attached to the cat and never forgave Shackleton for having it shot. He clashed with Shackleton during the expedition and despite eventually constructing the boats that would take the party to safety and displaying considerable fortitude and bravery, he was denied the Polar Medal awarded to the rest of the crew, on the grounds of his earlier insubordination. In 2004 a life-size bronze statue of Mrs. Chippy was placed on the grave of McNish by the New Zealand Antarctic Society in recognition of his efforts on the expedition.

Mrs. Chippy is an eponymous painting by British artist Wolf Howard that celebrates the crew's journey to safety.

[edit] Notes

• Sir Ernest Shackleton. South.
• Kim Griggs (2004-06-21). Antarctic hero 'reunited' with cat. BBC. Retrieved on 27 October 2006.
• Caroline Alexander (1997). Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition. 1914-1915 The Remarkable Journal of Shackleton's Polar-Bound Cat. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-3527-2.