on 24 august 2016, during a series of dives in two-person submersibles from the 146-foot (44.5-meter) vessel "baseline explorer", scientists working in partnership with project baseline, the university of north carolina coastal studies institute, and sri international made the first visual observations of "u-576" since her sinking in 1942. they found that her wreck was lying on its side at a depth of 721 feet (220 meters) with its hatches dogged shut, its dive planes angled upward as if the submarine was attempting to surface, and damage to its outer hull near the bow. its wooden deck had rotted away, but its hull, conning tower, and deck gun (the latter inscribed with the nickname "peterle," german for "little peter") were largely intact. the scientists also visited the wreck of "bluefields". noaa made plans to conduct an underwater laser scan of both wrecks and produce exact three-dimensional models of them.