CHARLESTON, S.C. — Some called it the last Confederate funeral.

The eight crew members of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley were laid to rest in Charleston, S.C., Saturday. Thousands of men in Confederate gray and Union blue -- and women in black hoop skirts and veils -- attended the funeral.

The Hunley was the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship. The hand-cranked sub, originally made from a steam boiler, mysteriously sank in 1864.

The sub was found off the South Carolina coast nine years ago and raised in 2000.

About 40 relatives of the crew attended the burial. Fourteen Southern governors were invited to the ceremony but declined to attend.

Some observers speculated the governors may have been wary of the political implications of attending an event with thousands of Confederate re-enactors.

Organizers coined Saturday's ceremony as the last Confederate burial and the final act of the Civil War.