sentences:  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.After World War II Outerbridge continued in his naval career, serving as the commander of Destroyer Division 42 in 1945-46, before joining the staff of the Naval War College.