USS Oberrender (DE-344) was a John C. Butler–class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Lieutenant Commander Thomas Olin Oberrender Jr., the engineering officer of the light cruiser USS Juneau, who was killed when that ship was torpedoed and sunk during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942.

Laid down in November 1943, launched in January 1944, and commissioned almost four months later, Oberrender served on convoy escort duty in the Pacific from late 1944, with an interlude protecting escort carriers during the early stages of the invasion of Leyte. She was heavily damaged by the explosion of the ammunition ship USS Mount Hood at Manus and was repaired there during November. Returned to service in December, Oberrender served on anti-submarine patrol during the Battle of Okinawa, during which she was irreparably damaged by a kamikaze attack in early May 1945. As a result, she was decommissioned and sunk as a target late that year.

The John C. Butler–class destroyer escorts were designed to meet a need for large numbers of cheap anti-submarine escort ships for ocean convoys, and as a result carried little anti-surface armament. The class was part of an initial requirement for 720 escorts to be completed by the end of 1944, which was significantly reduced.

Oberrender was 306 feet (93.3 m) long overall with a beam of 36 feet 10 inches (11.2 m) and a draft of 13 feet 4 inches (4.1 m). She displaced 1,350 long tons (1,372 t) standard and 1,745 long tons (1,773 t) full load, with a complement of 14 officers and 201 enlisted men.

The ship was propelled by two General Electric geared steam turbines powered by two "D" Express boilers, creating 12,000 shaft horsepower (8,900 kW) for a designed maximum speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph). She had a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).

Oberrender mounted a main battery of two single turret-mounted 5-inch (127 mm) /38 caliber guns, one forward and one aft of the superstructure, to protect against surface and aerial threats, directed by the Mark 51 Gunnery Fire-Control System. She also carried four 40-millimeter (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) guns in two twin mounts, superfiring over the 5-inch guns, also controlled by the Mark 51 fire-control system, and ten single Oerlikon 20-millimeter (0.8 in) light AA guns. Equipped with three 21-inch (533 mm) centerline torpedo tubes, the ship also carried two depth charge racks, eight K-gun depth-charge throwers and one Hedgehog spigot mortar as anti-submarine weapons. She was equipped with a QC series sonar, SL-1 surface search radar, and SA-2 air search radar.

Laid down by the Consolidated Steel Corporation of Orange, Texas, on 8 November 1943, Oberrender (DE-344) was launched on 18 January 1944, sponsored by the widow of her namesake, Lieutenant Commander Thomas Olin Oberrender Jr., the engineering officer of USS Juneau, who was killed during the sinking of the latter in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. She was commissioned on 11 May 1944 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Samuel Spencer, who commanded the ship for the duration of her service. Following commissioning, the ship began fitting out at the Orange City Docks, followed by gunnery testing in the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout the month she conducted further training and completed her fitting out at the Todd Galveston Dry Docks. Oberrender was then degaussed before sailing for Bermuda on 28 May. After arrival, the ship undertook a shakedown cruise off the island, attached to the Atlantic Fleet.

For repairs to correct deficiencies found during shakedown, Oberrender was ordered to the Boston Navy Yard. She was ordered to Norfolk Navy Yard for further repairs in mid-July and remained there until 22 July, when she began the journey to the Panama Canal, escorting the oiler Nantahala and tanker Nemasket. Oberrender transited the canal on 1 August, after a stopover at Aruba. Assigned to Escort Division (CortDiv) 69 of the Pacific Fleet after exiting the canal, she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 16 August, having escorted Nantahala and Nemasket there. Operating out of Pearl Harbor, Oberrender conducted training operations, including gunnery exercises, until 30 August, when she departed for Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands, escorting a convoy along with the destroyer escort Rall; both returned with another convoy to Pearl Harbor on 18 September. With fellow destroyer escorts Samuel B. Roberts and Walter C. Wann, Oberrender escorted another Eniwetok-bound convoy, arriving at her destination on 30 September.