I joined in 1969 and we were told getting a tattoo was an Article 15.
Thank you for your service. I've been in the Navy since 2003 and tats have never been completely banned, but there has been changes to what is allowed. I knew a Marine who had to get forearm tattoos removed before he was allowed to enlist.
IIRC, when I came in a waiver was needed to enlist with anything visible past short sleeves and any new ink post-enlistment required a chit from your chain of command (which was rarely enforced). These days, anything goes. The Navy is pretty relaxed. Maybe too relaxed. I'm not against tattoos but I'm seeing a lot of really bad ones. They're taking up entire arms and increasingly creeping up people's necks and the tops of their hands which just looks ghastly.