Hello my seafaring friends!
Yours truly, red Admiral Kitty Purrfürst,
proudly flies the flag of real naval cats from the Purrfürst clan:
fly a flag for distinguished Captains and their many glorious victories at sea.
Today, I present you with another chapter from the history of our dynasty,
the main part of which will be played by a representative
from the clan of our sworn rivals.
Hello! I'm Rear Admiral and, first of all, I would like to inform you
that it’s not only the felines that are capable of serving in the navy.
All kinds of animals have walked ships’ decks—
for ages, humans have tried to accustom many creatures,
both great and small, to seafaring.
The history of keeping birds and animals on board ships
goes back to the distant past,
starting with the pigeons that French sailors launched from their ships
during World War I, and ending with reptiles.
A historical fact: two crocodiles appeared on Russian cruiser Aurora
during the famous cruise of the Second Pacific Squadron;
having been taken aboard at Madagascar.
However, few people know that
specially trained officers worked with those reptiles,
attempting to make true combat crocodiles out of them.
Unfortunately, they failed:
one of the crocodiles couldn't handle the pressure and jumped overboard,
while the other perished during the Battle of Tsushima.
Dogs are completely different story.
We have been friends with humans since ancient times and
we have explored this planet together.
In terms of ability we're no less capable than the felines...
Dogs are capable of understanding around 250 words and gestures,
can count to five, and solve simple mathematical problems.
And don't forget about their nose—
these animals can discern more than half a million smells.
For example, a bloodhound can pick up a trail 100 hours old
and follow it for 160 kilometers!
Can you imagine the range at which these animals could detect smoke
coming from the stack of a destroyer or battleship, for example?
In addition, they can forecast weather and predict storms.
Their superb hearing, 10 times better than that of a human, helps them with this.
Of course, phenomenal skills like these couldn't go unnoticed
by naval specialists working with animals.
It became quickly apparent that we couldn't be taught
at the same kind of establishment as cats—
I think the difference between us and those... whiskered creatures, is obvious.
That's why a special education institution was created for us:
the NDA—Naval Dogs Academy.
The NDA had a very strict selection process.
Some breeds weren't accepted due to their limited intellectual abilities,
while others didn't match the required size.
Alas, experience showed that
large dogs don't feel very good during a long cruise on a warship.
This is why there aren't any German Shepherds,
Dobermann Pinschers or Rottweilers amongst the cadets—
they are simply too big.
On the other hand,
you won't find any Pekineses or Basenjis at the Academy either.
They lack the abilities required for the training.
And I would like to add that this service dogs’ school always had greater patronage.
After everything, all those captain Pinschers and admiral Pekineses did
was to carry maps from one cozy office to another;
they were afraid of the open sea, only a little less than artillery cannonade.
I must admit, though, that there were some real sailors among them...
The NDA trained dogs of different nations:
American Foxhounds, Russian Samoyed, and French Bulldogs.
But the British always had a wide representation:
Border Collies, Jack Russell Terriers,
and Welsh Corgis— favorites of the British Royal family.
The very first Royal Corgi fathered a pup that later entered the NDA.
The Queen sent her quadruped ward to the Academy
where they turned him into a proper sailor.
He became the founder of our dynasty...
In his memoirs, my grand-grand-grand father Kitty
mentioned that exactly that doggie was his main and implacable rival.
Doggie... That Purrfürst was an arrogant slob, I tell you.
He behaved as if he had been born in a Royal palace and
my ancestor—in a cruiser's cargo hold, and not the other way around.
Let me tell you about the confrontation between
Kitty Purrfürst I and my grandfather,
and you'll see for yourself which of our families left the bigger mark in history.
But that's a story for another time.
For the moment, I recommend you subscribe to this channel,
watch the videos attentively and keep an eye out for bonus codes:
those Captains who manage to activate them in time are in for a surprise.
See you next time! Bye!