Image by Flickr user Laser Burners

Re-enactors and veterans of the submarine service are commemorating the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley and its attack on a Union blockade ship.

Today marks the 147th anniversary of the Hunley's attack on the Union blockade ship Housatonic off Charleston.

The hand-cranked sub and its eight-man crew rammed a spar with a powder charge into the vessel and sank it, but the Hunley never returned from its voyage.

The anniversary is being commemorated with a service at Sunrise Presbyterian Church on Sullivans Island, looking out on Breach Inlet where the Hunley set off.

Re-enactors dressed in widow dress and submarine vets toss roses and wreaths on the water while musket and cannon salutes also honor the Hunley crew.