Steve Hide has sinking of the Titanic tattooed across his back

11:07am Thursday 1st September 2011 in Heritage News Photograph of the Author By Luke Tugby, Senior reporter

Steve Hide 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

Steve Hide's Titanic 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

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rich the stitch says...
11:27am Thu 1 Sep 11

What a tat!
(there is a letter missed there)

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Jerry Parsons says...
11:53am Thu 1 Sep 11

Of course he'll only ever see it in a mirror & so it'll all be backward. A bit like him really.

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costa gaz says...
12:10pm Thu 1 Sep 11

Fair play Steve..... whatever floats your boat.

Looks ok to me.

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IanRRR says...
12:12pm Thu 1 Sep 11

Oh dear, slow news day I think!

Whilst he is welcome to have what he wants drawn all over his body, I think it looks horrid. Some people feel they need this sort of thing. Perhaps it makes them feel complete? I just think it makes them look scarred, and I dread to think what it will look like in another 20 years! Probably nearly as good as the Titanic, rotting on the sea-bed!

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J.K. says...
12:59pm Thu 1 Sep 11

At last an iconic and rare object for the Titanic Museum - perhaps he could perform as a stripper in the cafe....
Hanneddes sign him up imediately

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BadassTash says...
2:57pm Thu 1 Sep 11

Looks great, i was in tattooz last dec when this guy was having some of the work done. He and his wife are lovely people.

I dont get how some of you commenters can repeatedly come on here and say rude things about people in the articles who you dont even know. Its pathetic if anything shows how narrowminded people are becoming in this day n age.

How might i ask is getting a tattoo of something you have a deep interest in make a person a chav or nob? Grow up!

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Mental Micky says...
3:02pm Thu 1 Sep 11

I commemorated the sinking of the Bismark by leaving our old washing machine in the front garden.

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SpittingMoreFire says...
3:02pm Thu 1 Sep 11

Is that his surname at birth?! Rather apt!

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SpittingMoreFire says...
3:30pm Thu 1 Sep 11

J.K. wrote:
At last an iconic and rare object for the Titanic Museum - perhaps he could perform as a stripper in the cafe....
Hanneddes sign him up imediately
Indeed. Hades should install this rare spectacle in the museum, to compliment those other exhibits.

Hello, what's this...

Have you stuck that question mark in square brackets there, Echo? Come on now, despite the atrocious spelling we all know who J.K. Means! ;)

.

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captain_chaos says...
3:56pm Thu 1 Sep 11

SCC could have saved £18 million and had this bloke just walk around the City. Now get the 1500+ names of the people that perished put on there as well. What a numpty

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King Mush says...
4:15pm Thu 1 Sep 11

Whilst not being a great admirer of tattoos, I do feel that this qualifies as a form of 'art'. The guy obviously has a passion for the whole story that is part of our local history so good luck to him.

Better than say 'love - hate' on the fingers or 'cut here' around a neck etc?

However- a minor point- I would have thought that the commemorative date should indicate the 15th April when the Titanic slipped under the water around 2-20 am?

Back to the parlour Stevie!!!!

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Huffter says...
4:27pm Thu 1 Sep 11

Some people think a work of art can transform a body into a thing of beauty.....

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bigfella says...
4:31pm Thu 1 Sep 11

I agree that tattoos can be a work of art, and I also have no doubt that he and his lady wife are indeed lovely people. I am just intrigued at his choice of subject for the artwork, the deaths of 1000's of people celebrated in ink form across his back.

Still, better than that Maddog bloke who was on Kyle the other week with tattoo's all across his mug

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King Mush says...
4:44pm Thu 1 Sep 11

bigfella wrote:
I agree that tattoos can be a work of art, and I also have no doubt that he and his lady wife are indeed lovely people. I am just intrigued at his choice of subject for the artwork, the deaths of 1000's of people celebrated in ink form across his back.

Still, better than that Maddog bloke who was on Kyle the other week with tattoo's all across his mug
I hardly think that Steve or anyone else 'celebrates' the tragic loss of some 1500 souls- many of them being local crew members.

Whilst it remains one of the worst stories, it also shows insights into many aspects of that era which can looked at all over the net.

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Maybush Lad says...
5:10pm Thu 1 Sep 11

I've got nothing against tattoos, am planning to have one myself. And some can be excellent works of art (including this one) but TBH this is too big and too expensive IMV. I'd never go that large and I certainly wouldn’t fork out that much.

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Scrutinizer says...
5:15pm Thu 1 Sep 11

Presumeably he does realise that he's had the date Titanic hit the iceberg tattooed on his back, 14th, April, and not the date she sank, 15th, April,?!

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J.K. says...
5:15pm Thu 1 Sep 11

Surely this could start a trend in Southampton for World Beating Firsts , who's up for "Totton Flyover"
Someone Morbidly Obese could fit it on easily

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jpr:-) says...
5:30pm Thu 1 Sep 11

I bet there is a Pompey Chav somewhere out there who has a tattoo on his back to commemmorate the old Tricorn Centre that got knocked down a few years ago!!

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TimTam says...
6:35pm Thu 1 Sep 11

But what will it look like if he gets any fatter?

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Stubs says...
7:05pm Thu 1 Sep 11

What a fat slob.

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forest hump says...
7:47pm Thu 1 Sep 11

A guy I knew had HMS tattooed on his privates. I asked him what ship he served on? His reply was "none, when I get excited it spells hammersmith"

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Scrutinizer says...
9:39pm Thu 1 Sep 11

forest hump wrote:
A guy I knew had HMS tattooed on his privates. I asked him what ship he served on? His reply was "none, when I get excited it spells hammersmith"
Ok, so then you walked away and it went back to HMS again, eh?! ;-)

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Linesman says...
10:47pm Thu 1 Sep 11

forest hump wrote:
A guy I knew had HMS tattooed on his privates. I asked him what ship he served on? His reply was "none, when I get excited it spells hammersmith"
How long have you been a toggle-ogler?

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IronLady2010 says...
1:09am Fri 2 Sep 11

Body art should be covered and left for those who wish to view it and not be paraded about the City.

Tatoos are common and most whom have them are drunken louts.

Just my opinion.

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Lionel P says...
5:44am Fri 2 Sep 11

Why have comments calling this person a 'tat' (letter missed out) and 'fat slob' been allowed when my comment that he is a chav has been deleted? He is a chav, a 'tat' and a fat slob.
Iron Lady is entirely correct in her opinion. Tattooes are common.

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redandWhite79 says...
8:32am Fri 2 Sep 11

I've got this sinking feeling he may regret it one day lol.

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satan666 says...
11:27am Sat 3 Sep 11

bigfella wrote:
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
Whatever floats your boat. Or not.

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gemini71 says...
4:04am Tue 6 Sep 11

I have a tattoo, i have five, but it doesn't make me a chav, drunken lout, or any off the above name calling, and i am not common. It is a nice tattoo steve xx

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