A memorial dedicated to the victims of a Japanese merchant ship sunk by the German navy during the First World War was unveiled last week by the Duke of Gloucester in Angle exactly 100 years after the sinking.

Only 30 of the 240 sailors and passengers on board the Hirano Maru survived when the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat in the Irish Sea on October 4, 1918, suring the final days of the war.

People living in Pembrokeshire found bodies along the county’s coastline - 10 of which were buried in the churchyard in Angle.

Descendants of the victims and members of the British royal family attended the churchyard ceremony on Thursday, October 4.

At th service flowers were left by seventy-two-year-old Yoshiko Nakamura, whose grandfather Shintaro Yamamoto - an officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy was among the victims.

Bouquets and wreaths were placed by his Royal Highness Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, after he unveiled the memorial, alongside representatives from the Japanese Embassy and Nippon Yusen K.K, the company that owned the ship.

Funds were raised for the memorial - carved by a local stonemason, by David James, secretary of the West Wales Maritime Heritage Society.

“I was delighted to see so many Japanese people here. With so many people coming together in an act of remembrance and commemoration,” he said.

Pics. Martin Cavaney Photography