Tattoo tribute to the Titanic (From Daily Echo)

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Steve Hide has sinking of the Titanic tattooed across his back

11:07am Thursday 1st September 2011 in Hampshire Heritage Photograph of the Author By Luke Tugby, Reporter

Steve Hide

IT is one of the most iconic moments in Great British history.

The sinking of the Titanic has become the subject of museum exhibitions, memorials and even a Hollywood blockbuster.

Now one Southampton man has chosen a unique way to remember that fateful moment in April 1912 – by having it tattooed across his back.

Titanic enthusiast Steve Hide, from Marchwood, has splashed out almost £3,000 to have the moment the cruise liner sunk inked onto his skin.

The artwork has taken almost 40 hours to complete since Steve had the first lines drawn at a tattoo parlour in Eastbourne back in 2006.

“When I started having it done five years ago I always planned to have it finished in time for the 100th anniversary,”

said Steve, 45.

“I used books and pictures of the ship sinking to build up my own picture of what I wanted and took it into the tattoo artist.

“They probably thought I was a little mad and I think my family did too!

“But I’ve always been interested in the history of the Titanic since I was young and this was my way of remembering it.”

The newly completed tattoo was finished off by Pix Marcin, at Tattooz By Design, in Shirley.

“I’ve been a professional tattoo artist for about five or six years and I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s really amazing,” he said.

The stunning tattoo is one of 15 Steve now has across his body.

They include the names of his two children, Bradley and Jessica, step-children Jack and Georgie, and granddaughter Charlie.

But it is the striking image of the Titanic that always catches people’s attention.

Steve’s wife, Vivienne, 51, said: “Whenever we are on holiday and he has his shirt off, everybody comes up to us to have a look and get their pictures taken.

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“It’s like he’s a celebrity!

“He started having it done before I met him, but I’ve really grown to like it over the years and even started to have my own input towards the end,” she added.

“Now that it’s there and it’s done, it really is a masterpiece, a work of art.”

Click the image below for a guide to the tattoo

Find out more about Titanic

You can find out more about Titanic and the disaster's impact on Southampton with the Daily Echo.

Throughout the coming months ahead of the centenary in April, we will be showcasing unique content in our Titanic mini-site.

In the meantime, you can discover key sites across the city relating to the tragedy, the latest news relating to the ship or even find out some of the key facts behind the vessel, her demise and the people who perished and survived, including a list of all the crew members and the locations of their homes in Southampton.

Comments(29)

bigfella says...
11:23am Thu 1 Sep 11

what better way to celebrate the deaths of thousands of people, get it tattoo'd on your back. Brilliant

I hear some of the surviving Nazi's from WWII are having tattoo's of the Gates of Auschwitz and "Work will set you free"

s/w - deny-mark. how apt