USS Osberg

USS Osberg (DE-538) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1947 and from 1951 to 1958. She sold for scrapping in 1974.

History
United States
Laid down	3 November 1943
Launched	7 December 1943
Commissioned	10 December 1945
Decommissioned	1947
In service	26 February 1951
Out of service	25 February 1958
Stricken	1 August 1972
Fate	Sold for scrapping 5 February 1974
General characteristics
Displacement	1,350 long tons (1,372 t)
Length	306 ft (93 m) (oa)
Beam	36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Draft	13 ft 4 in (4.06 m) (max)
Propulsion	2 boilers, 2 geared steam turbines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws
Speed	24 knots
Range	6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Complement	14 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament	2 × 5"/38 guns, 4 (2×2) 40 mm anti-aircraft (AA) guns, 10 × 20 mm AA guns, 3 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 1 × Hedgehog, 8 × depth charge throwers, 2 × depth charge tracks

Namesake

Carl August Osberg was born on 13 April 1920 in Dunbarton, New Hampshire. He attended Manchester Central High School, where he played football. In his free time he observed bi-planes at Grenier Field, site of today's Manchester–Boston Regional Airport. He quit college at Cornell to join the Navy reserves and was trained at Naval Air Station Squantum in Massachusetts. He was one of the twelve pilots of Torpedo Squadron 3 attached to the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. During the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942, his squadron attacked Imperial Japanese Navy ships and he went missing. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

History

Osberg was commissioned on 10 December 1945 and was decommissioned on 15 May 1947. She was recommissioned for duty during the Korean War on 26 February 1951. She operated in the Atlantic Ocean until her second decommissioning on 25 February 1958. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 August 1972, and, on 5 February 1974 she was sold for scrapping.

External links

• NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive – USS Osberg (DE-538)