In March 1948 a 17 year old seaman found a cat wandering around the dockyards of Hong Kong, being a member of the crew of the British frigate HMS Amethyst he smuggled the cat aboard ship. Simon rapidly gained a reputation for his cheekiness with the crew and officers alike, sometimes leaving presents of dead rats in the sailors' beds and sleeping in the captain's cap.

The Amethyst was to travel up the Yangtze River to Nanking to replace the duty ship there. Halfway up the river the ship became embroiled in the "Yangtze incident", when Chinese communist gun batteries opened fire on the frigate. One of the first rounds entered the Captain's cabin, killing Captain Skinner and seriously wounding Simon.

The badly wounded cat managed to crawl on deck, and was rushed to the medical bay, where the surviving medical staff removed four pieces of shrapnel from Simon, who was not expected to last the night. However, he did survive to return to his former duties; the ship had become overrun with rats whilst beached in the river, and Simon soon took on the task of removing them. He also liked to visit the sick bay which helped to raise the morale of wounded teenage sailors.

Simon became an instant celebrity, all over the world and was presented with the "Animal VC", the Dickin Medal as well as a Blue Cross medal. Thousands of letters were written to him, so many that one of Amethyst officers was detailed solely to answer Simon's post.

like all animals entering the UK, Simon was subject to quarantine regulations and spent some time in an animal centre in Surrey. It was there that Simon contracted a virus and, despite the close attention of the medical staff and thousands of well-wishers, he passed away on 28 November1949 from a complication of the viral infection caused by his war wounds. Hundreds, including the entire crew of HMS Amethyst attended his funeral in Ilford East London, and his gravestone reads:

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