IT was a fitting tribute to 105 brave sailors who lost their lives one stormy night 200 years ago.

As a bugler played the Last Post and Reveille, wreaths were laid to honour the crew of HMS Brazen, which crashed into rocks off Newhaven in 1800.

One by one they came to pay their respects - Norman Baker, MP; Admiral Sir Lindsay Bryson, the former Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex; Coun Lynne Austin, Mayor of Newhaven and Chris Morgan from the Royal British Legion.

Around 200 people gathered at St Michael's Church, Newhaven, for the service yesterday .

HMS Brazen, a 360-tonne rigged ship, had been stolen from the French who had named it L'Invincible Generale Bonaparte, but it was under the command of the Royal Navy when the tragedy struck. At the height of fears the French would invade, the ship had been renamed and equipped with 26 cannons to ward off any threats in the English Channel.

Early on January 26 the gunboat was caught in a fierce storm and at 6am smashed into rocks.

Most of the crew were asleep at the time and were awoken by a huge bang.

All but one drowned in what is thought to have been Newhaven's worst ever tragedy.

The only survivor was Jeremiah Hill who was unable to swim but clung to a gun carriage and managed to reach the shore.

Rescue efforts to save the crew included using a special winch from which a cage was dangled over the cliff to the beach below.

During the church service, former Vice Admiral Sir Toby Frere, who in the Eighties served on another ship called HMS Brazen, read a lesson.

Martyn Edwards, secretary of Newhaven Historical Society and church warden, said: "It seemed right to do this, to remember all the sailors who died."

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