A plaque has been unveiled to commemorate a ship that wrecked in the island 200 years ago.

The event in Castletown remembered the HMS Racehorse and those who died when she wrecked off Langness, three of whom were from the town and had rowed out to save crew members in 1822.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan and Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer were among those to attend the unveiling.

Tony Brown, a member of the Castletown HM Brig of War Commemoration Group, which helped install the plaque, said: ‘It was wonderful to see so many people attending this special ceremony to mark this.

‘In excess of 200 people attended the ceremony held at the quay. We didn’t know how many people would attend, so we were delighted that so many members of the public and those previously involved in recovering items from the wreck site came along.

‘Myself and my colleagues, and Brian King (one of the original divers who located the wreck) felt it was important to provide within Castletown a lasting memorial to the tragedy and the commemorative plaque does that.

‘The plaque brings to the fore recognition of the incident and the bravery of the three Castletown men who lost their lives and the actions which resulted in the setting up of the RNLI.

‘I would like to thank the government, Culture Vannin, Manx National Heritage, and the Castletown Town Commissioners, who supported our small group of volunteers.’