HMS Racehorse gully north

3D Model

The seabed at the wreck site of HMS Racehorse is a series of deep gullies. After salvage attempts and centuries of tides and storms, there are no structural remains of the ship, only some of the ships contents lying amongst the narrow rock channels.

The footage of the gully was captured with a 5-camera photogrammetry frame and processed into a 3D model by Jon Chamberlain (University of Essex).

December 14 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the loss of the British naval ship, HMS Racehorse off the Isle of Man. Most of the crew were rescued by local men, but the last rescue boat overturned and six crew and three rescuers were lost. The loss to the local families was one of the catalysts that encouraged William Hillary to petition the UK Government to create a national maritime lifesaving organisation, which became the RNLI in 1824.

Read the HMS Racehorse Underwater Site resource report (Isle of Man Historic Environment Record)