in 1986. was part of the squadron until her decommissioning in 2015. It is part of Carrier Strike Group Nine. Mascot 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. 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