The USS Osmus was named after one of the many torpedo bomber pilots lost during the Battle of Midway, Ens. Wesley Frank Osmus. Later research revealed that he survived his plane being downed only to be captured, tortured, and summerly executed by the Japanese on the same day. Like all Buckley-class destroyer escorts of the period, the USS Osmus was built by the Defoe Shipping Company of Bay City, Michigan. Commissioned on the 23rd of February 1944, she will arrive at Espiritu Santu, near Australia on the 1st of June. After an escort mission to Guadalcanal, the USS Osmus joins Escort Division 39 and sails to the Admiralties Islands. For the remainder of the war, her escort duties will take her throughout the Marianas and Okinawa. In the Mariana Islands region, she will also participate in anti-submarine and sea rescue missions. Alongside the USS Courier, the USS Osmus took part in the surrender of the Japanese garrison on Rota on August 28, 1945. She ended her career in 1947, upon decommission. During her short active years, the USS Osmus might have presented a danger to her crew because of the asbestos used in her construction. The mineral could be found lining the pipes that were running throughout; covering every part that needed heat and corrosion shielding, as well as many of the operations rooms.
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