USS Mosley ( DE - 321 ) USS " Mosley " ( DE 321 ) was an built for the U . S . Navy during World War II . She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys . She was named in honor of Walter Harold Mosley , who was awarded a Silver Star for his heroic actions during the early months of World War II . She was laid down by Consolidated Steel Corporation of Orange , Texas , 6 April 1943 ; launched 26 June 1943 ; by Mrs . A . G . Mosley ; and commissioned at Orange 30 October 1943 , Lt . Comdr . James A . Alger , Jr . , USCG , in command . World War II North Atlantic operations . After shakedown off Bermuda , " Mosley " escorted a convoy out of Norfolk , Virginia , to Texas Gulf ports and back . Then , on 28 January 1944 , she sailed to New York for escort duty with CortDiv 46 . Between 31 January and 18 March 1944 , she screened a UGS GUS convoy to north Africa and back ; then , following anti - submarine warfare ( ASW ) training off Block Island , she reached Norfolk 1 April for further escort duty . Under attack by the Luftwaffe . Three days later , " Mosley " sailed with convoy UGS 38 bound for the Mediterranean . The ships passed Gibraltar 18 April , and then closed the coast of North Africa . As the convoy hugged the Algerian coast on 20 April , the ships came under an intensive Luftwaffe attack shortly after 2100 . Junkers and Heinkel bombers struck in three waves . The first attack blew the troop - loaded merchantman out of the water , killing 580 men ; the next wave hit two more merchant ships ; and the final strike sank screening escort with a single torpedo which split open the unlucky destroyer . " Mosley " laid covering smoke and opened up with antiaircraft fire during the strikes . Her guns splashed one Ju - 88 and damaged another German bomber during the first strike . Under attack by German submarines . " Mosley " reached Bizerte , Tunisia on 22 April , then departed 1 May as escort for westbound GUS 38 . Two days later , the convoy ran into trouble from lurking U - boats . Early on 3 May , , a sister escort , detected U - 371 astern of the convoy . As she closed to attack the German submarine , Menges was damaged by an acoustic torpedo . The sub escaped , only to be hunted down and destroyed by searching escorts the next day . As the convoy neared Gibraltar early 5 May , a second U boat , U - 967 , harassed the screen . A single torpedo fatally damaged . " Mosley " , after aiding the search for the elusive sub , rejoined the convoy later that day in the Straits of Gibraltar . She reached New York via Norfolk 22 May . " Mosley " resumed convoy escort duty out of Norfolk , Virginia on 11 June . During the next 8 months , she completed four round - trips to North Africa and back . She made two runs to Bizerte and two to Oran , returning from her final Mediterranean convoy on 11 February 1945 . After completing availability at New York , she joined a hunter - killer group at New London , Connecticut , 23 February . Sinking of German Submarine U - 866 . Designated Task Group 22 . 14 , " Mosley " and sister escorts , , " Menges " , and trained off Block Island before steaming to Casco Bay on 4 March . The next day , they sailed to seek out and destroy an enemy submarine reported off Newfoundland , north of Flemish Cap . They made first contact on 13 March , and during the next 5 days carried out persistent search - and - destroy operations . On 18 March in waters west of treacherous Sable Island , day - long hedgehog and depth charge attacks brought " air bubbles , wreckage , and large quantities of oil " to the surface . A violent underwater explosion at 1622 marked the end of U - 866 , and the hunter killer group returned to Casco Bay on 20 March . " Mosley " resumed ASW patrols in the Gulf of Maine on 24 March ; then , until 4 April , she searched the stormy North Atlantic south and west of Flemish Cap . On 10 April , TG 22 . 14 rendezvoused at sea with a hunter - killer group built around and began barrier patrols along the 30th meridian north of latitude 48°30 ' . One of four CVE - DE groups , " Mission Bay " and her escorts comprised the northern force of the First Barrier Force . Divided into two barrier forces , the hunter - killer groups formed two lines of defense against a harassing blitz by German snorkel submarines dubbed Group " Seewolf " . Sinking of German Submarines U - 1235 and U - 880 . Between 10 and 16 April , " Mosley " carried out 10 mile patrols in her assigned barrier station . During the night of 15 and 16 April , escorts to the south of her blasted U - 1235 and U - 880 in heavy seas . Her war diary on 16 April at 0200 noted : " Lots of fun going on in southern part of barrier . " That evening , the barrier patrols shifted westward to the 38th meridian and Mosley resumed patrols across the 45th parallel . Hunting German Submarines U - 805 and U - 518 . Late on the 21st of April , " Mosley " , in company with Lowe and made radar contact with a surfaced submarine , probably U - 805 . The contact disappeared at a range of 9 , 100 yards , and " Mosley " closed for attack . Bucking " short and steep " seas , " Mosley " fired hedgehogs , but without effect . The three escorts continued hedgehog and creeper attacks against the deep - running submarine . Shortly after 0200 on 22 April , soundmen detected underwater explosions which were probably evasive tactics of the U - boat . At about the same time as " Mosley " first made contact , escorts and attacked and sank U - 518 some 100 miles southward along the barrier . End - of - War activity . The hunter - killer group returned to Argentia on 27 April for replenishment ; then , Mosley resumed surface barrier patrols 2 May . She was patrolling the North Atlantic about 300 miles south of Cape Race , Newfoundland , as President Truman announced the German surrender on 8 May . On 14 May , she returned to New York , where she remained until 16 June , " removing the stains of North Atlantic duty . " She sailed to Port Everglades , Florida , and on 25 June , began duty with the Atlantic Fleet ' s Antisubmarine Development Detachment , she carried out ASW test and development exercises with submarines and other escorts until 7 September . After completing overhaul at Charleston , South Carolina , she steamed to Green Cove Springs , Florida on 3 November . Post - War decommissioning . " Mosley " was decommissioned at Green Cove Springs on 15 March 1946 , and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . After that time she remained in reserve , and in 1969 was berthed with the Atlantic Inactive Fleet at Orange , Texas . She was struck from the Navy List on 2 January 1971 and was sold for scrap on 22 August 1973 . Awards . " Mosley " received two battle stars for World War II service .