In 1941, a reindeer joined the 56 member crew of the HMS Trident, a British submarine.

The story goes that the reindeer, named Pollyanna, was gifted to the British crew by a Soviet naval captain while fighting German forces in the Arctic Circle. After the British captain spoke about his wife having trouble pushing her stroller through the snow in England, the Soviet captain presented the reindeer as a solution, reports BBC.

Instead of refusing the gift, the British captain took the reindeer onto the submarine where she lived with the crew for six weeks. To get Pollyanna into the sub, the crew had to lower her through a torpedo tube. Once inside, the crew attempted to get her to sleep in the food and torpedo store area. Instead, she opted to sleep under the captain’s bed.

According to BBC, the Soviets also provided the British a barrel of moss to feed Pollyanna. However, after the moss ran out, the reindeer took a liking to condensed milk and scraps from the galley. She even ate a navigation chart on one occasion.

Once the crew made it back to England, Pollyanna had grown too fat to exit through the torpedo tube. The crew had to use a winch to wiggle her out of the top hatch.

Pollyanna lived out the rest of her days in Regents Park Zoo. She died in 1947, the same year the HMS Trident was scrapped by the British navy.

(h/t BBC)