Black and grey realism tattoo on an upper arm showing the word NAVY, stars, a warship and a torn flag with the number 43.

Navy warship and torn flag on upper arm

Realism · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

The design shows the word NAVY in block letters above a row of stars, with a grey warship in the centre and a torn flag peeling back around it. The ship has fine linework and soft grey shading, while the flag uses smooth gradients and rough edges to suggest fabric. The tattoo is shown in black and grey on the upper arm and shoulder, filling most of the frame.

Realism Lettering Upper arm Shoulder Ship Star Flag Lettering

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Nan, the potato peeler has gone missing again, and the cook blames me, which is fair, because I did have it last. I'm writing this on the end of the galley bench with a tin of cocoa for a desk, the deck tilting under my elbows like it wants to read over my shoulder.

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We're forty-three days out from the last port and the ship is grey as wet slate from stem to stern. Every morning I scrub the big pots while the men come down in ones and twos for their tea. There's a lad from Hull who draws the ship's crest on the back of ration chits, and someone chalked a row of stars along the mess bulkhead for the anniversary. The number is painted on the bow in white, so the boys call her Forty-Three the way you'd call a dog by its name.

Last Tuesday the flag on the signal locker tore loose in a squall, and the whole watch stood on the upper deck and watched it bang and rip against the rigging like a gull that won't quit. Nobody moved to catch it. Then Ferris, who never says a word before noon, climbed the ladder with a cup of cocoa in each hand and said it was only cloth. Maybe he's right. I still think about how the stars kept their shape even while the stripes came apart.

If the peeler turns up in your kitchen drawer when I get home, I'll owe you a fortnight's washing up. Tell Dad the sea is flat today and the tea is stewed. Your loving boy, Danny.