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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

Ship's patches courtesy Bill Wise
of Soldiers Trunk International
Ship's name tab courtesy of Al Grazevich

USS Otterstetter (DE 244)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - F - J - U

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Second Row: World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal - Philippine Liberation Ribbon

Specifications:
Class: Edsall
Type: FMR (geared diesel, Fairbanks-Morse reverse gear drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1200 tons (light), 1590 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 10" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 5" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 4 Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38d81/8 geared diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 kts
Range: 9,100 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1),
1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Complement: 8 / 201

Otterstetter (DE244) Building and Operational Data:

09 November 1942: Keel laid by the Brown Shipbuilding Corp., Houston, Tex.

19 January 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Miles P. Refo Jr.

06 August 1943: Commissioned at the Tennessee Coal and Iron Co. Dock, Houston, Tex.; Lcdr. William B. Porter, USN, in command

10 September 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 3 years and 1 month of service

01 June 1951: Reactivation and conversion to DER commenced at the Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, S.C.

December 1951: Reclassified DER 244

06 June 1952: Recommissioned at the Charleston Naval Shipyard, Lcdr. John P. Sullivan in command

19 July 1952: Assigned to Commander Destroyer Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, at Newport, R.I. as a unit of Escort Squadron Sixteen

20 June 1960: Decommissioned at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Orange, Tex. after 8 years of service; custody to CO, Texas Group, U.S. Atlantic Fleet Reserve

01 August 1974: Struck from the NVR with a total of 11 years and 1 month of service

15 February 1976: Sunk as a target off Puerto Rico

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
0624401	43k	Carl William Otterstetter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Otterstter on 11 January 1920 at Moorhead, Minn. The family later moved to California and settled in Oakland. Carl graduated from Castlement High School and later attended Merritt Business School. He enlisted in the Navy as an Apprentice Seaman at San Francisco, Calif. on 18 September 1940. After six months of training at San Diego he was advanced to Seaman Second Class on 18 January 1941 and transferred to Commander Patrol Wing Two on 03 April. He was killed in action during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on 07 December 1941. He received a citation for prompt and efficient action and utter disregard of personal danger in the effort to repel the attack on the Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu. In addition to his parents, Seaman Otterstetter was survived by two sisters, Mrs. Irene O'Brien of Alameda, Cal., and Mrs. Edward Shepard of Seattle, Wash., and four brothers, Robert, Conrad, George and Theodore, all of Oakland. USS *Otterstetter* (DE 244) (1943-1946, 1951-1960) was the first ship to be named in his honor. (Photo from the Oakland Tribune)	Mike Smolinski Clifton, N.J. Navsource Archive Manager DE / FF / LCS Archive
0624402	71k	undated early wartime image (1943 - early 1944)	Harold Williams
0624403	63k	undated late wartime image (1945)	Harold Williams
0624404	91k	all undated wartime images (Photo #80G364880 from the National Archives) (Photo #80G364881)	Wayne Craig and John Chiquoine West Chester, Pa.
0624405	115k		Wayne Craig and John Chiquoine West Chester, Pa.
0624406	305k	12 June 1944: Argentia, Newfoundland - Two views of USS *Otterstetter* taken from USS *Tripoli* (CVE 64) as she entered Argentia Harbor. (U.S. Navy photos #80-G-364890 and 80-G-364891 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.)	Rick E. Davis Springfield, Oh.
0624407	383k		Rick E. Davis Springfield, Oh.
0624408	123k	undated postwar image	Harold Williams
0624409	430k	circa 1958: the Atlantic Ocean - USS *Otterstetter* (DER 244) at sea. (U.S. Naval Historical Center photo catalog #L45-221.02.01 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)	Mike Smolinski Clifton, N.J. Navsource Archive Manager DE / FF / LCS Archive

Otterstetter Memorabilia
News Article 20 Dec. 1941 Courtesy of Mike Smolinski	Ship's Lighter Design 1 Courtesy of Nick Tiberio	Ship's Lighter Design 2 Courtesy of Nick Tiberio

Otterstetter History
View the USS Otterstetter (DE 244) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.

Otterstetter's Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler

Dates of Command	Commanding Officers
1.) 06 Aug. 1943 - 26 Dec. 1943	Lcdr. William Baxter Porter, USN (Comm. CO) (USNA '33) (Fortress Monroe, Va.)
2.) 26 Dec. 1943 – 13 Dec. 1945	Lcdr. Leonard Edgar Whitmore, USNR
3.) 13 Dec. 1945 – 10 Sep. 1946	Lcdr. William Ollie Austin Jr., USN
4.) 06 Jun. 1952 -	Lcdr. John Paul Sullivan, USN (Recomm. CO)
6.) 05 Feb. 1955 - 05 Oct. 1956	Lcdr. Maylon Truxton Scott, USN (USNA '44) (San Francisco, Cal.)
7.) 05 Oct. 1956 - 07 Jun. 1958	Lcdr. Maylon Truxton Scott, USN
8.) 07 Jun. 1958 - 20 Jun. 1960	Lcdr. Rudolph Valentino Biordi, USN (USNA '45) (Ellwood City, Pa.)

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

None

Note About Contacts

Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has been
made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list only
a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists, rosters, or deck logs available. Please see the
Frequently Asked Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

Additional Resources

Tin Can Sailors
The U.S. Navy Memorial
Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
The Destroyer History Foundation
Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Otterstetter

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This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
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