William W. Outerbridge was born in Hong Kong, China on 14 April 1906 and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1927. After serving in several billets, he took command of the destroyer USS Ward at Pearl Harbor. While patrolling off Hawaii hours before the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, the Ward encountered a Japanese midget submarine trying to penetrate the American naval base, opened fire, and sank it, firing what are widely regarded as the first American shots in World War II. Outerbridge was then transferred to the USS O’Brien, which supported the Allied landing on D-Day, 6 June 1944, by hammering German positions near the beach and days later supported the Allied capture of Cherbourg, a vital port. He and the O’Brien then served in the Pacific until the end of the war. On 7 December 1944, in an irony of war, the O’Brien was ordered to sink the USS Ward after it had been severely damaged in a kamikaze attack. After the war, Outerbridge served in various capacities, commanded the cruiser USS Los Angeles from 1953 to 1955, retired in 1957 as a rear admiral, died in 1986, and was buried in Tifton, Georgia.