He served in various capacities on ships and ashore, including 3½ years on the China Station (1937–40) aboard the heavy cruiser Augusta (CA-31).

The midget submarine the Ward sank that morning was finally located in August 2002 in 1,300 feet (400 m) of water just outside Pearl Harbor.

[6] From 1942 Outerbridge worked at the Office of the Chief of Naval Transportation in Washington, D.C.,[2] before being given command of the destroyer O'Brien (DD-725) in June 1944.

Later the O'Brien performed a similar action off the French port of Cherbourg as Allied ground forces captured the city.

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.

[2] Outerbridge commanded the cruiser Los Angeles (CA-135) from 1953 to 1955, then served as Head of the Transportation and Petroleum Branch in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Logistics, Plans).