Daphne the Seal on HMS Kent

John Denis Hainsworth was my grandfather and this is a story my grandmother Pat Hainsworth wanted adding to this site.

John Hainsworth was a Royal Marine during the Second World War and was stationed on HMS Kent, which was involved in the Russian convoys. HMS Kent had two thousand sailors on board and one day one of them spotted a seal swimming around the boat. The men watched it for a few days and decided to bring it aboard because it was injured. They brought the seal onto HMS Kent and christened it Daphne. Daphne was given her own cabin, the ship's doctor was ordered to see her to see what he could do to treat her and generally a great fuss was made of her. Every one of these men visited Daphne in her cabin every day. They even went as far as getting a big bath and filling it full of sea water so Daphne could swim around in it.
Eventually they had a ceremony onboard where Daphne was made into a Royal Marine. Unfortunately Daphne eventually died, partly because the men on board used to feed her all the time with inappropriate food like apple!!! John Hainsworth told his wife, Pat that every man on that ship cried when Daphne died. She was given a full burial at sea.

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