Tirpitz the Pig Mascot
In March 1915, the German light cruiser SMS Dresden was scuttled during the battle of Battle of Más a Tierra just off the coast of Chile.
Most of the crew managed to escape, along with a pig who had been kept on board to supply meat.
The pig had managed to swim away from the sinking SMS Dresden and was rescued by an officer of the British ship HMS Glasgow
.
Originally named Dennis, the pig was adopted by the crew as HMS Glasgow’s official mascot and eventually renamed Tirpitz
after German Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1849-1930). When the ship returned to Britain, Tirpitz took up residence at the Royal Navy’s zoo on Whale Island in Portsmouth.
Tirpitz, however, proved to be a rather rebellious prisoner of war, and after breaking
into a chicken run, she was rehomed and eventually auctioned by the Red Cross, raising 400 guineas for the charity after she passed.
