official card-carrying us navy mascot

His name was Apache, 25 pounds, black eyes and black and white hair, rated Dog1c.  Or in any case that's what his Navy ID card said.  In honor of Veterans' Day, I'd like to send you to the Naval History Blog's article introducing us to Apache and others: the journalist Scoop, the freshly buzzcut Musume, and Rickey at attention.  Here you go.
And to all veterans, human and animal, thank you for your service!

vintage wednesday, ship edition

LOC, Gift; State Historical Society of Colorado; 1949http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994014009/PP/

I look for ship cats and dogs, and yet what I keep finding are....goats.  How many of you have seen this one of "Pitch," the mascot of the the USS New York?  This was taken by photographer Edward H. Hart in the years between 1893-1901.

getting the ship's goat?

Once upon a time, the USS Von Steuben had a goat for a mascot.  Here's what we know, as recorded in a memoir about the ship's part in WWI:

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DON'T GET THE "VONNIE'S" GOAT
The mascot of the crew is a goat, "Billy," who is always eager to stage a mimic fight with his chums, the two dogs, "Tomatoes" and "Commodore," the latter named being the pride of Commander Wilcox. The goat is a source of much enjoyment for the crew; he pulls a varied number of funny stunts. His friends are the "boys." The Commander's dog "Commodore," after which the Hotel Commodore was named, is a favorite in the ward room. When "Commodore" is on duty in the Executive's room no one can go near it. In Panama every man had a parrot, but why mention unpleasant things?

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Have I figured out which Hotel Commodore, by the way?  No.

- Ruggles, L. Elsworth. (1919). The part the U.S.S. Von Steuben played in the great war. Brooklyn, [N.Y.]: Brooklyn Eagle Press. 63.