At 16.01 hours on 9 July 1942, U-571 tried to stop the unescorted and unarmed Nicholas Cuneo by firing three rounds from the 20mm AA gun over the ship about 47 miles north-northwest of Havana, Cuba. The U-boat had surfaced to investigate the ship according to the prize rules after spotting a blue-white-blue flag, however the vessel turned away at full speed and sent distress signals whereupon the next rounds were fired directly at the hull. The crew immediately stopped the engines and abandoned ship in a lifeboat, but one crew member was lost. U-571 fired 43 shells from the deck gun at the Nicholas Cuneo which soon caught fire and then quickly submerged and left the area due to aircraft arriving at the scene. The survivors were picked up a few hours later by the Nicaraguan steam merchant Corinto and were taken to Havana. USS Noa (DD 343) investigated the still burning Nicholas Cuneo later that day and reported her being beyond salvage with 26 shell holes visible and a list of 30° to port. The wreck subsequently sank at 20.44 hours.