Any time there’s a ship, there are usually rodents infesting that ship, chewing through ropes and eating food. That’s why for many years, navies of all nationalities brought cats on board.

Because the cats killed the rodents and saved food for the crewmen, many crews adopted multiple cats. Unfortunately in today’s age, cats have been banned from naval vessels, which shows that progress doesn’t always move forward. Perhaps if more militaries still embraced cats, there would be one less reason for nations to go to war.

o learn more about the history of cats on naval ships, click here.