OSMUS DE 701
Ship Name and Designation History
This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.
Keel Laid August 17 1943 - Launched November 4 1943 |
This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).
Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.
- Covers Page 1 (DATE RANGE)
Postmarks
This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.
A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an
image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN
THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the
existing example.
|
Postmark Type |
Postmark Date |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
|---|
|
Bay City MI |
1943-11-04 |
 |
 |
Launching
|
Locy Type |
1946-01-22 |
 |
 |
Notes:
Other Information
OSMUS received one battle star for her World War II service
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
China Service Medal - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - World War II Victory Medal
NAMESAKE - Wesley Frank Osmus USNR (September 2 1918 - June 4 1942)
Osmus attended the University of Illinois, and later enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve at the U.S. Naval Reserve Aviation Base, Chicago (Glenview), on March 26 1940 as a Seaman 2d Class. He reported for elimination flight training at Glenview on April 14. Upon completion of that period of instruction, he was released from active duty on May 14, issued a discharge on September 3 1940, and accepted an appointment as an Aviation Cadet the following day. Reporting to the Naval Air Station at Pensacola, Florida, on September 9 1940, for flight training, he later transferred to NAS Miami, Florida, for further instruction, on March 12 1941, reporting for duty two days later, and received the designation as Naval Aviator on March 25. Orders directed him to the Fleet Air Detachment, San Diego, California, for further flight training and he accepted his appointment as Ensign, USNR, on April 22. He reported to Torpedo Squadron (VT) 3, a unit of the USS SARATOGA CV-3 Air Group, on August 15 1941. SARATOGA’s torpedoing by Japanese submarine I-6 on January 11 1942, meant sending her air group ashore to serve as a pool for the other carriers. Torpedo Three came to be based at NAS Kaneohe Bay, whence they flew out to USS YORKTOWN CV-5 on May 30 1942 as the ship headed out to a point northeast of Midway Island in Task Force 17. On the morning of June 4 1942, with definite word of the position of the Japanese carrier striking force (Kido Butai) having been received, YORKTOWN launched her striking group. VT-3, screened by fighters from Fighting Squadron (VF) 3 and accompanied by Bombing Squadron (VB) 3, encountered Japanese Zero fighters that soon engaged the outnumbered VF-3 in desperate dogfights, drawing off the American escort. Only two of the 12 Devastators from VT-3 escaped the deadly melee, both ultimately ditching en route to friendly flight decks. Piloting the last plane in VT-3’s formation, Osmus was shot down during the run-in toward the Japanese fleet. While he managed to bail out of his burning Devastator, his radio-gunner, ARM3c Benjamin R. Dodson, either already dead or unable to do so, did not. Osmus was awarded a Navy Cross, posthumously. Post-war research in Japanese records of the Battle of Midway revealed that Osmus was picked up by the destroyer ARASHI, which was proceeding independently to rejoin the Kido Butai after an unsuccessful hunt for a U.S. submarine. Subjecting the injured young pilot to torture yielded information concerning the composition of the U.S. carrier task groups at Midway, but it availed the enemy little, for by the end of the day the last operational Japanese carrier had been disabled and the outcome of battle decided. Sometime later, most likely on the night of June 4, Osmus was murdered by his captors
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