William W. Outerbridge

William Woodward Outerbridge (14 April 1906 – 20 September 1986) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. He held the distinction of firing the first shots in defense of the United States during World War II.

Biography Outerbridge was born in Victoria, Hong Kong, and was raised in Middleport, Ohio. He attended Middleport High School and graduated from Marion Military Institute in Alabama. He was then appointed to the United States Naval Academy from which he graduated in 1927. He served in various capacities on ships and ashore, including 3½ years on the China Station (1937–40) aboard the heavy cruiser . In 1940-41 he was Executive Officer of the destroyer , and on December 5, 1941 he was appointed as the captain of the destroyer , stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

For this action Outerbridge was subsequently awarded the Navy Cross.

World War II From 1942 Outerbridge worked at the Office of the Chief of Naval Transportation in Washington, D.C.,

On D-Day the O'Brien stood off the coast of Normandy, and helped protect Allied forces landing on the beaches, by using her guns to attack German defenses near the landing zones. Later the O'Brien performed a similar action off the French port of Cherbourg as Allied ground forces captured the city.

Outerbridge and the O'Brien were then reassigned to the Pacific Fleet to participate in the liberation of the Philippines. In a strange twist of fate, on December 7, 1944, during the landings at Leyte Gulf, Outerbridge was ordered to use the O'Brien's deck guns to sink the Ward, which had been severely damaged in a Japanese kamikaze attack.