23 June 2025
Not many people can say that they have their workplace tattooed on their body like Marine Technician Able Seaman Harley Orpin.
The sailor, originally from Wonthaggi in Victoria, serves in HMAS Sydney and has the ship specially tattooed on his arm.
He spent 14 hours in the chair to receive the ship tattoo, with the rest of the design on his arm split over three days.
“My tattoo artist said he’d seen many pirate ship requests, but never had a request for a Navy ship like this,” Able Seaman Orpin said.
He has been on board Sydney since April 2022, with multiple deployments under his belt, but it was a moment in 2023 that struck a chord with him during a memorial where one of the ship’s predecessors, Sydney II had sunk.
Sydney II, a Leander-class light cruiser, sunk with all hands off the coast of Western Australia on November 19, 1941, during a mutually destructive engagement with the German merchant raider Kormoran.
“That feeling I got during the ceremony really stuck with me, which is why I chose to have the gun from Sydney II on my tattoo, rather than the gun we actually have.”
'I had some trouble choosing a tattoo, until I saw a picture taken by one of the former imagery specialists of HMAS Sydney crashing through the waves.'
Able Seaman Harley Orpin is on his dream posting in Sydney, working unique days as a marine technician.
“I was a bit nervous because I had some trouble choosing a tattoo, until I saw a picture taken by one of the former imagery specialists of HMAS Sydney crashing through the waves … that set it for me,” he said.
On the other side of his arm, Able Seaman Orpin has an anchor entwined in a skull, which comes from his meaningful everyday work.
“During specials, I’m on the windless, which is what controls the movement of the anchor,” he said.
“It’s been my spot since day one, so anchors mean a lot to me.”
Able Seaman Orpin is part of Sydney’s crew, which is more than halfway through its regional presence deployment in the Indo-Pacific region, having already participated in Exercise Bersama Shield, Operation Argos, multiple international port visits and at-sea manoeuvres.
“While we still have some time left at sea, I am hoping for a stormy day, much like my tattoo with some large waves and lightning,” Able Seman Orpin said.
