USS Otterstetter ( DE - 244 ) USS Otterstetter ( DE - 244 ) was an Edsall - class destroyer escort 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 Seaman Second Class Carl William Otterstetter who was killed in action during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor , 7 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 . " Otterstetter " was laid down 9 November 1942 by Brown Shipbuilding Co . , Houston , Texas ; launched 19 January 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Miles P . Refo , Jr . ; commissioned 6 August 1943 , Lt . Comdr . W . B . Porter , in command . World War II North Atlantic operations . " Otterstetter " sailed on her shakedown cruise along the East Coast of the United States and on 14 November joined a convoy and steamed as escort from Norfolk , Virginia , to Casablanca , French Morocco . She arrived there on 2 December 1943 and returned to New York on Christmas Day . She made a convoy escort voyage to Casablanca in February 1944 . On 24 May " Otterstetter " made the first of three voyages to Argentia , Newfoundland , escorting convoys en route to the United Kingdom . Transfer to the Pacific Fleet . On 16 July 1945 " Otterstetter " sailed for Pearl Harbor via Guantánamo Bay , Panama Canal , and San Diego , California . After a brief training in Hawaiian waters , she proceeded to Saipan , arriving 29 August . The following day she sailed for Iwo Jima , arriving on 1 September 1945 . " Otterstetter " remained at Iwo Jima for a short time , then sailed for Empire waters , arriving 3 November . She returned to the Marianas Islands 2 December and sailed for Okinawa 29 December , before steaming on to Tokyo . She arrived at Tokyo on the last day of the year 1945 . On 4 January 1946 " Otterstetter " got underway for Jinsen , Korea , returning to Okinawa 14 February . " Otterstetter " arrived at Sasebo , Japan , on 29 March and at Shanghai , China , on 6 April . Two days later she sailed for Pearl Harbor via Okinawa and then on to the Panama Canal . She transited the canal and arrived at Charleston , South Carolina , 15 May . " Otterstetter " underwent a pre - inactivation overhaul and departed for Green Cove Springs , Florida , 10 September . The ship was placed out of commission in reserve 21 September and attached to the Florida Group , Atlantic Reserve Fleet . Post - War Conversion to Radar Picket Ship . On 1 June 1951 , Charleston Naval Shipyard commenced the dual procedure of reactivating " Otterstetter " and converting her from a destroyer escort to a radar picket destroyer escort . Reclassified DER - 244 in December 1951 , " Otterstetter " recommissioned at Charleston Naval Shipyard 6 June 1952 , Lt . Comdr . John P . Sullivan in command . On 19 July 1952 " Otterstetter " reported to Commander Destroyer Force , U . S . Atlantic Fleet , as a unit of Escort Squadron Sixteen . After a shakedown cruise to Guantánamo Bay she sailed 4 December for her first picket in the contiguous radar coverage of the Atlantic Coast , searching for and reporting aircraft in her sectors of responsibility . She continued these duties for the next several years . Final Decommissioning . " Otterstetter " was decommissioned 20 June 1960 and was berthed at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . On 15 February 1976 she was sunk as a target off Puerto Rico .