ASSOCIATED PRESS About 1,200 people stand to offer silent prayers to the nine victims of last February's collision between a Japanese fisheries training ship, the Ehime Maru, and a U.S. Navy submarine off Hawaii, during a memorial service at Uwajima, western Japan, today. Participants included bereaved family members, survivors of the Feb. 9 accident, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker and Japanese Defense chief Gen Nakatani.

Hundreds honor
Ehime Maru victims

U.S. officials also attended
the Tokyo services

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Associated Press

TOKYO -- Nearly 1,200 people offered silent prayers Thursday to mourn nine people killed when a U.S. Navy submarine sliced through their Japanese fisheries training ship off the coast of Hawaii last year.

U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker and Japanese Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani were among the dignitaries honoring the dead, whose oversized portraits hung over the stage as the school song played in their memory.

"I hope each of you will accept the heartfelt apology that I humbly offer on behalf of the people and government of my country," Baker said.

Nine men and teen-age boys aboard the Ehime Maru died Feb. 9 when their vessel from the Uwajima Fisheries High School was rammed by the USS Greeneville. Twenty-six others were rescued.

Divers recovered eight bodies in October. The body of Takeshi Mizuguchi, 17, remained missing when the search was called off Nov. 15.

His father, Tatsuyoshi Mizuguchi, eulogized the victims at Thursday's ceremony in the town of Uwajima, home port of the Ehime Maru, about 420 miles southwest of Tokyo.

"We will try to overcome this sadness earliest as possible and would like to return to a normal life again," Mizuguchi said.

Eight survivors who suffer disorders such as insomnia, nausea and appetite loss laid wreaths Wednesday at the memorial hall to avoid added stress, organizer Keiji Ono said.

Thursday's event came ahead of the anniversary because local officials are planing a Feb. 9 dedication of a waterfront monument overlooking the collision site in Hawaii.

The USS Greeneville crashed into the Ehime Maru off Oahu as the nuclear-powered sub demonstrated an emergency surfacing drill for 16 civilian guests.

Also attending Thursday's memorial service in Japan were Rear Adm. Robert Chaplin, commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Japan, and Rear Adm. William Klemm, who lead the raising of the sunken ship.

As mourners prayed, 17 students from the Uwajima fisheries school embarked Thursday on a similar training voyage to the same waters where the Ehime Maru sank. They joined students from another school on their training ship and plan to return in March, Ono said.