On 29 June 1943, Destroyer Squadron 23 became part of Admiral William F. Halsey's Third Fleet. Less USS Aulick, Destroyer Squadron 23 assumed duty on patrol and escort in the Southwest Pacific.
Destroyer Squadron 23 earned its reputation—and a Presidential Unit Citation—under its second commodore, Captain Arleigh Burke, who assumed command on 23 October 1943. On 24 November 1943, during the Battle of Cape St. George, the squadron engaged two enemy destroyers and three destroyer transports. In what has been described by tacticians as "near perfect surface actions", the squadron sank three enemy destroyers, and damaged one, without damage to themselves. In the period November 1943 – February 1944, the Little Beavers fought in 22 separate engagements and were credited with destroying one Japanese cruiser, nine destroyers, one submarine, several smaller ships, and approximately 30 aircraft.
Destroyer Squadron 23's operations in the Pacific continued through the Liberation of the Philippines. The squadron returned to the United States on 19 October 1945, and were presented the Presidential Unit Citation by Admiral Burke and Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal.
In February 1946, the squadron was inactivated and the ships were sent to Charleston, South Carolina for lay-up.
On 4 April 1956, the squadron was reactivated as Destroyer Division 231 under the command of Captain E. K. Wakefield, with USS Picking(DD-685), USS Stephen Potter(DD-538), USS Preston(DD-795), and USS Irwin(DD-794). The squadron was rededicated as the "Little Beavers" on 12 December 1956, by Rear Admiral Chester Wood, Commander Cruiser Destroyer Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet in ceremonies at Long Beach, California.
The mascot of Destroyer Squadron 23 was Little Beaver, a character made famous by Fred Harman's Red Ryder cartoon strip. This cartoon was very popular during the squadron's operations in World War II.
Due to the high tempo of operations during the squadron's operations in the South Pacific, the ships' crews often said they were busy as beavers. This sentiment led to an illustrated painting by a crewman named James Bowler on the side of one of USS Claxton's torpedo tubes. The painting depicted Little Beaver shooting an arrow at Japan's Prime Minister Tōjō.
During an inspection of USS Claxton, then-Commodore Arleigh Burke observed the painting. He liked it so much that he adopted the logo (minus Tojo) for use by the entire squadron and it remained in use until 2021.
Old emblem of Destroyer Squadron 23
Shortly after receiving complaints of the racist caricature remaining in use, submissions were accepted for a new logo.
On January 1, 2021, the official Facebook changed its profile to the new logo. Now displaying a large "23", with an arrow crossing behind, and "The Little Beavers" enclosed by a circle, with "Destroyer Squadron" below.
Soon after, ships within the DESRON, along with the Headquarters began shifting to new logo.
Commodores
Commodores of the Little Beavers over the years:
M. J. Gillan II (May 1943 – October 1943)
Arleigh A. Burke, (October 1943 – March 1944), later Chief of Naval Operations
T. B. Duncan (March 1944 – July 1945)
W. C. Ford (August 1945 – February 1946)
Decommissioned (February 1946 – April 1956)
E. K. Wakefield (April 1956 – April 1957)
Harry D. Sturr, World War II submarine commander (April 1957 – April 1958)
J. E. Smith (April 1958 – May 1959)
T. H. Morton (May 1959 – February 1960)
T. D. Cunningham (February 1960 – July 1960)
J. L. Kelly, Jr. (July 1960 – June 1961)
F. E. McIntire (June 1961 – September 1962)
Robert A. Schelling (September 1962 – July 1963)
C. R. Dwyer (July 1963 – December 1964)
J. C. Hill (December 1964 – November 1965)
L. E. Davis, Jr. (November 1965 – July 1967)
R. E. Spreen (July 1967 – July 1968) (Later Chief of Naval Ordinance and rank of Rear Admiral)
J. J. Doak (July 1968 – January 1970)
W. H. Rogers (January 1970 – May 1971)
G. M. Neely (May 1971 – February 1973)
Conolly (February 1973 – June 1974)
Donald P. Roane (June 1974 – October 1976)
Stuart D. Landersman (October 1976 – November 1978)
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