2. “The Nurse on the Hull” — Anzio, Italy (1944, WWII)

Private Marco Santini waited for supply ships off the coast of Anzio during heavy fighting. One Liberty ship, SS Horizon Star, carried classic pinup art on its hull: a soft, glowing pinup girl dressed as a wartime nurse holding a lantern.

The image, painted in the style of a pinup illustration, became something sailors quietly trusted. When artillery struck the forward hold, the ship should have sunk—but it stayed afloat long enough for evacuation.

Sailors later joked that the pinup portrait of the nurse “kept the light on” just long enough to save them all.