The R.P. Resor was torpedoed with a terrible loss of life, and burned for days before finally sinking. The U-578 then went on to torpedo the destroyer USS Jacob Jones as it searched for survivors.

The stern is the largest surviving part of the wreck. Today much of the plating has fallen away, leaving an enormous metal latticework that rises crookedly 30-40 ft off the bottom. The bow is smaller. In-between, debris fields are low-lying but expansive; the midships bridge area having collapsed into a large pile of rubble.