Cat in the Civil War Cannon Legend Debunked?

USS Monitor gun turret being pulled out of the Atlantic Ocean
on Aug. 5, 2002, for the first time in 140 years. (Credit: NOAA)

There's an Associated Press story that has been picked up by several newspapers concerning a Civil War legend involving a sinking ship and a black cat that may or may not have been put into a cannon by a superstitious sailor. You can see it on CNN here:

No sign of legendary cat in Monitor cannon

Scripps Howard News Service has another story about it here:

Research on USS Monitor probably disproves cat story

But the most complete story is from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration who are the ones claiming to have debunked the myth. Their story is at:

USS MONITOR RESEARCHERS DEBUNK 142-YEAR-OLD LEGEND OF 'CAT IN THE CANNON'

It wasn't until I read the NOAA story's complete quote from the sailor that I realized he wasn't trying to harm the cat but save it, keep it dry, maybe get it to stop yowling. At the time, he thought the ship still had a chance, maybe a better one if he helped them stick to a sailor's superstition against killing cats. (Too bad more people don't believe in that one.)

Personally, I think the legend could still be true even though they didn't find any cat bones in the recovered cannon. Cats aren't crazy about being stuck places. It could have gotten out before the ship sank. (And hopefully it safely cat-paddled to shore and took up with some nice land lubbers.)