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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
    Otterstetter
    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
    Otterstetter
    0624402    		 71k undated early wartime image (1943 - early 1944) Harold Williams
    Otterstetter
    0624403    		 63k undated late wartime image (1945)
    Otterstetter
    0624404    		 91k all undated wartime images

    (Photo #80G364880 from the National Archives)





    (Photo #80G364881)    		 Wayne Craig

     and

    John Chiquoine
    West Chester, Pa.
    Otterstetter
    0624405    		 115k
    Otterstetter
    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.
    Otterstetter
    0624407    		 383k
    Otterstetter
    0624408    		 123k undated postwar image Harold Williams
    Otterstetter
    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
    0624410    		 405k October 1973: Philadelphia, Pa. - The decommissioned USS Otterstetter (DER 244), second from right, nested in a group of mothballed destroyer escorts at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, U.S. Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia Pa. On Otterstetter's port side is the decommissioned USS Mills (DER 383). On her starboard side are the decommissioned USS Chambers (DER 391) and the decommissioned USS Wagner (DER 539).

    (Heilenday photo #III 0424A from the Heilenday Collection)    		 Mark Heilenday
    Virginia Beach, Va,

    Captain, USN (ret.)
    June 1974 - July 2004
    Otterstetter Memorabilia
    News Article
    20 Dec. 1941
    Otterstetter
    Courtesy of
    Mike Smolinski    		 Ship's Lighter
    Design 1
    Otterstetter
    Courtesy of
    Nick Tiberio    		 Ship's Lighter
    Design 2
    Otterstetter
    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. 1943Lcdr. William Baxter Porter, USN (Comm. CO) (USNA '33) (Fortress Monroe, Va.)
    2.) 26 Dec. 1943 – 13 Dec. 1945Lcdr. Leonard Edgar Whitmore, USNR
    3.) 13 Dec. 1945 – 10 Sep. 1946Lcdr. William Ollie Austin Jr., USN
    4.) 06 Jun. 1952 - Lcdr. John Paul Sullivan, USN (Recomm. CO)
    6.) 05 Feb. 1955 - 05 Oct. 1956Lcdr. Maylon Truxton Scott, USN (USNA '44) (San Francisco, Cal.)
    7.) 05 Oct. 1956 - 07 Jun. 1958Lcdr. Maylon Truxton Scott, USN
    8.) 07 Jun. 1958 - 20 Jun. 1960Lcdr. 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
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Otterstetter
    To The DE, FF, LCS Photo Index Page
    Back To The Main Photo Index

    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail: Webmaster.

    This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
    All pages copyright Navsource Naval History
    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 16 September 2024