Adorable "suffering" cats "crying" for their mum who died saved by Royal Navy sailors - pictures

Personnel serving at the UK Naval Support Facility found it “impossible to ignore” five baby cats that were left orphaned under a shipping container. The facility supports British warships - including Portsmouth-based vessels HMS Lancaster and HMS Middleton - serving in the Red Sea, Gulf and Indian Ocean.

The litter were heard crying after their mother, who had been known as Michelle, was found to have died. Fearing for the three-week-old animals, with temperatures hitting 40C, the sailors took them under their wing.

Petty Officer Kirsty Scott, one of the kitten carers, said: “We knew the mother, whom we fondly named ‘Michelle’. When we discovered her kittens, we were upset to find she had passed away and they were left to fend for themselves. They would come running out crying from the shipping containers at the sight of personnel looking for food, there was no way we could leave them suffering.”

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Royal Navy personnel hand-fed and reared the kittens. One of them unfortunately passed away, but the other four were given a clean bill of health by the vet. A home has been found for them.

Lieutenant Nathan Boal, who serves in the Royal Navy’s operational headquarters in Bahrain, said: “It was impossible to ignore the desperate cries of five tiny kittens knowing they wouldn’t survive one day on their own in the punishing heat – they were too young even to eat or drink by themselves.

“I witnessed the caring side of our sailors as well as incredible teamwork to save these helpless animals and I’m relieved that our efforts saved them.

“Alongside managing the challenges operational deployments can bring, these sailors showed incredible empathy in making time for animals desperate for help, and no doubt this will be an enduring memory of their time in Bahrain.”