The USS Cowell was laid down on September 7th, 1942, completed on March 18th and commissioned into service on August 23rd of 1943. She was the second ship, specifically, the second destroyer in the U.S. Navy to be named after her namesake, John G. Cowell. The individual she was named after was an officer on board the U.S. sailing frigate, the USS Essex, who was severely wounded during a battle against a pair of British ships in the South Atlantic during The War of 1812. Despite losing a leg, Cowell refused to be carried to the lower decks for medical treatment, instead choosing to remain at his station where he continued to motivate his fellow crewmen throughout the battle. Several weeks after the battle, Cowell died of his wounds and received an honorary burial for his courage in the principal church of Valparaíso, a rare honour for a foreigner. As for the USS Cowell destroyer, she was mostly employed as a carrier screener and anti-aircraft destroyer early in her service career and later as a radar picket. She took part in several major operations in the Pacific theatre, most notably at Okinawa, where she distinguished herself by shooting down several japanese regular and kamikaze aircraft and aiding damaged ships in providing covering fire and assisting in damage control. USS Cowell arrived in her homeport of San Diego on the 17th of November, 1945 and was decommissioned from active service on July 22nd, 1946. Throughout the postwar period until 1951, Cowell was part of the U.S. Naval reserve. She was recommissioned into active service in September 1951 and participated in the Korean War as well as various exercises in the Pacific, Atlantic and Mediterranean.

In August 1971, the ship was ultimately decommissioned from U.S. service and was sold to the Argentinian navy, where she received her new name - Almirante Storni. She served under the Argentinian banner until 1982, when she was finally decommissioned from service for good. Shortly after, she was dismantled for scrap.