Around 1,200 people offered silent prayers at a memorial service here Thursday for the students, teachers and crew members that died in February when the Ehime Maru, a fisheries training vessel, was sunk by a resurfacing U.S. Navy submarine off the coast of Hawaii.

Participants at the memorial included bereaved family members of the nine victims, survivors of the accident, Japanese and U.S. government officials, and students of the high school.

Others who attended the service included Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani; U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker; Rear Adm. Robert Chaplin, commander of the U.S. naval forces in Japan; and Rear Adm. William Klemm, who oversaw the raising of the sunken ship.

The event, organized by the prefecture, was held in the hometown of most of the victims ahead of the first anniversary of the accident. Pictures of the dead and an Ehime Maru miniature model were displayed during the ceremony.

The 499-ton Ehime Maru of Uwajima Fisheries High School was sunk Feb. 9 by the 6,080-ton USS Greeneville, which was carrying out a rapid-surfacing maneuver for the benefit of civilian guests.

Four 17-year-old high school students, two of their teachers and three Ehime Maru crew members were killed.

Many of the 26 survivors are from suffering posttraumatic stress disorder. Eight of the nine students who were rescued sent flowers but did not attend the service so as not to trigger further anxiety.

The U.S. Navy retrieved the remains of all but one of the nine victims during a 20-day search that ended in November.

The Ehime Prefectural Government is constructing a monument for the deceased in a park in Hawaii that commands a view of the accident site. The monument will be unveiled on the first anniversary of the accident, prefectural officials said.