as one of the boats involved in operation drumbeat (u-boat operations off the eastern seaboard of the north america), "u-576" sank the "pipestone county" on 21 april 1942, east of cape henry, virginia. all 46 of the "pipestone county"′s crewmen survived. the submarine surfaced, heinicke apologized to the "pipestone county"′s crew for sinking their ship, and "u-576"′s crew gave provisions to the men in one of the lifeboats. on 30 april 1942, the "u-576" sank the norwegian vessel "taborfjell" east of cape cod. the merchant ship went down in just one minute, with the loss of 17 of her 20 crewmen.