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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSOsterhaus |
| Namesake | Hugo Osterhaus |
| Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company,Newark, New Jersey |
| Laid down | 11 November 1942 |
| Launched | 18 April 1943 |
| Commissioned | 12 June 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 26 June 1946 |
| Stricken | 1 November 1972 |
| Honors & awards | 3battle stars (World War II) |
| Fate | Sold for scrapping, 30 May 1974 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Cannon-classdestroyer escort |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | |
| Beam | 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) |
| Draft | 11 ft 8 in (3.56 m) |
| Propulsion | 4 × GM Mod. 16-278Adiesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW), 2screws |
| Speed | 21knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 10,800 nmi (20,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 15 officers and 201 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USSOsterhaus (DE-164) was aCannon-classdestroyer escort in service with theUnited States Navy from 1943 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1974.
Osterhaus, named in honor ofHugo Osterhaus, winner of theNavy Cross, was laid down on 11 November 1942 by theFederal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., PortNewark, New Jersey; launched on 18 April 1943 sponsored by Miss Helen Osterhaus; and commissioned on 12 June 1943.
Aftershakedown training out of Port Royal,Great Sound, Bermuda,Osterhaus departedNew York on 21 August 1943 forEspiritu Santo,New Hebrides Islands. Departing on 3 October she made repeated escort missions from the New Hebrides andNew Caledonia advanced bases to the various fighting fronts of theSolomons.
AsOsterhaus patrolled off the beach atKola Point,Guadalcanal, in the early morning darkness of 11 October, two Japanese planes came in low from the beach for a sneak attack that resulted in damagingtorpedo hits on theSS George Bliss andSS John H. Couch. The latter ship burst into flames and was closed byUSS Bebas (DE-10) andOsterhaus. For the next two days the twodestroyer escorts sent fire and rescue parties on board the merchant ship, finally succeeding in quelling the flames and salvagingammunition, ordnance equipment and engineering tools.
In the following months,Osterhaus escorted troop and supply ships from advanced bases to Guadalcanal andBougainville Island in the Solomons with intervals ofanti-submarine sector patrols that took her as far from Guadalcanal as theFiji Islands. Afteramphibious warfare landing rehearsals in preparation for the invasion assaults on theMarianas Islands,Osterhaus set course from Guadalcanal on 12 June 1944 as a part of the screen for transports carrying garrison troops toEniwetok in theMarshall Islands. Arriving on 18 June, she passed out to sea the following day for a logistic support area to the east ofSaipan where she found no sign of enemy submarine activity as she guardedoilers and other logistic ships replenishing the American invasion fleet.
On 23 JulyOsterhaus departed Eniwetok in the screen of a troopconvoy that landed troops onGuam from the sea on 29 July. The following day the transports enteredAgat Bay whereOsterhaus witnessed concentrated dive and level bombing by American aircraft onOrote Peninsula and the effective heavy shelling by U. S.warships. On the evening of 30 July she sailed with herEscort Division Eleven to safeguard a task unit of transports returning to Eniwetok.
Osterhaus departed Eniwetok on 20 August to base her operations fromSeeadler Harbor,Manus,Admiralty Islands. Theflagship of Escort Division Eleven, she departed Manus on 6 September to help guard three escort carriers and a number of fleet oilers to ocean rendezvous with the Fast Carrier Task Forces. The logistic area was reached on 11 September and the escort carriers transferred replacement aircraft and aircraft parts to the heavy attack aircraft carriers while fleet oilers and other logistic ships replenished the Fast Carrier Striking Force preparing for the liberation of the WesternCaroline andPhilippine Islands.
The duty of protecting logistic ships operating from Seeadler Harbor in support of the Philippine Campaign continued until 20 November whenOsterhaus left that port astern for theHawaiian Islands and the west coast of the United States. She arrived inSan Francisco Bay on 13 December for overhaul in theTerminal Island Shipyard,San Pedro, Los Angeles.
Osterhaus returned toPearl Harbor on 23 April 1945 and assisted in guarding a convoy of transports and merchant ships bound by way of the Marshall Islands toUlithi, Caroline Islands. She reached Ulithi with the transports on 9 June and spent the remainder of the war in escort duty between that island, theMarianas, and the Marshalls. She departedKwajaleinLagoon on 16 September bound with Escort Division Eleven for Pearl Harbor, San Diego, thePanama Canal, and New York City where she receivedNavy Day visitors on 27 October.
Osterhaus arrived inJacksonville, Florida, on 29 November, shifting the following day toGreen Cove Springs Anchorage for inactivation. She was decommissioned there on 26 June 1946 and remained in reserve status until she was sold on 30 May 1974 and scrapped.
Osterhaus received threebattle stars for service in World War II.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
