USS Oberrender

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A warship facing right in dazzle camouflage
USS Oberrender on 15 July 1944
History
United States
NameOberrender
NamesakeThomas Olin Oberrender Jr.
BuilderConsolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas
Laid down8 November 1943
Launched18 January 1944
Commissioned11 May 1944
Decommissioned11 July 1945
Stricken25 July 1945
IdentificationHull classification symbol: DE-344
Honors and
awards		3 battle stars
FateSunk as a target on 6 November 1945
General characteristics
Class and type
John C. Butler–class destroyer escort
Displacement
Length306 ft (93.3 m) (
o/a
)
Beam36 ft 10 in (11.2 m)
Draft13 ft 4 in (4.1 m)
Installed power2
kW
)
Propulsion2 propellers; 2 geared steam turbines
Speed24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement14 officers and 201 enlisted men
Sensors and
processing systems
  • SL-1 surface search radar
  • SA-2 air search radar
  • QC series sonar
Armament

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.

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.

Design

Main article:
John C. Butler–class destroyer escort

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.[1]

A cutaway drawing of a warship
A United States Navy diagram of a destroyer escort

Oberrender was 306 feet (93.3 m) long

full load, with a complement of 14 officers and 201 enlisted men.[3]

The ship was propelled by two

kW) for a designed maximum speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph).[4] She had a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).[3]

Armament and sensors

Oberrender mounted a

search radar,[5] and SA-2 air search radar.[6]

Construction and service

Construction, shakedown, and convoy escort duty

A ship going sideways into the water
Launching of a sister ship at Consolidated Steel, April 1944

Todd Galveston Dry Docks. Oberrender was then degaussed before sailing for Bermuda on 28 May.[7] After arrival, the ship undertook a shakedown cruise off the island, attached to the Atlantic Fleet.[2][8]

A right facing ship in quarter view with dazzle camouflage
Oberrender off Boston, 15 July 1944

For repairs to correct deficiencies found during shakedown, Oberrender was ordered to the

Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands, escorting a convoy along with the destroyer escort Rall;[12] 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.[13]

Leyte and Mount Hood explosion

Three ships and smaller boats in an oil slick
Oberrender is visible in the top right, near the oil slick created by the Mount Hood explosion.

With the other destroyer escorts of CortDiv 69, Oberrender left for

invasion of Leyte. The destroyers and destroyer escorts screened the escort carriers of Rear Admiral Felix Stump's Task Unit 77.4.2 as they launched airstrikes against Japanese positions in the central Philippines from 17 October.[14]

An aerial view of a dock with a nearby base
The Lombrum Point ship repair dock, where Oberrender was repaired after the Mount Hood explosion

Oberrender missed the Battle of Leyte Gulf due to being detached on 24 October to cover the movement of the escort carriers of Task Unit 77.4.1 to Morotai[2] to take aboard replacement aircraft. After refueling in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, she returned to Task Unit 77.4.2 on 29 October for a voyage back to Manus.[14] After arrival at Manus, the ship remained anchored in Seeadler Harbor, and on 10 November was 1,100 yards (1,000 m) from the ammunition ship USS Mount Hood when the latter exploded. She was heavily damaged by fragments and exploding ammunition from the resulting conflagration, and had to be towed to the Lombrum Point Ship Repair Dock for repairs that lasted the rest of the month.[15] Oberrender lost one sailor missing, one killed, and seventeen wounded in the explosion.[16]

Lingayen Gulf, escort and patrol duty

While Oberrender was under repair, CortDiv69 was attached to Task Force 79 of the

Seventh Fleet. Following the completion of repairs, she went to Borgen Bay off Cape Gloucester for an anti-submarine patrol in early December. Returning to Seeadler Harbor on 11 December as part of the screen for Task Group 79.4, the destroyer escort conducted gunnery training there and en route to the Huon Gulf, where she patrolled from 18 December. With Task Group 79.2, Oberrender returned to Seeadler Harbor on 21 December, remaining there until the last day of the year, when she departed for the invasion of Lingayen Gulf as part of the screen for the task group.[17] Again without result, she engaged a Mitsubishi A6M Zero attacking a convoy of transports.[18]

A map of the Philippines with arrows denoting the movement of forces
The approach to Lingayen Gulf, January 1945

Taking up duty on an anti-submarine patrol station in Lingayen Gulf between 9 and 12 January, Oberrender escaped the notice of Japanese

attack cargo ships, part of Task Group 78.6.[19] The task group was diverted to Biak en route and after arrival there, she anchored at nearby Mios Woendi Lagoon until 27 January, when she began a three-day patrol off Biak before returning to Mios Woendi.[20]

Oberrender became part of the screen for the task group, known as the Third Lingayen Reinforcement Group, on 1 February. The latter departed from Biak with its transports carrying the 41st Infantry Division two days later, and she continued screening the task group, which unloaded its troops at Mangarin Bay on Mindoro on 9 February. After the unloading, the task group and its screen continued to San Pedro Bay, where it dissolved on 12 February, leaving Oberrender at anchor awaiting a new assignment. Three days later, she departed for Ulithi in the Caroline Islands, as part of the screen for attack transports of Task Group 78.5; the ship arrived there on 19 February and remained anchored there until 2 March,[21] when she participated in anti-submarine training with the submarine Skipjack.[22]

Oberrender departed Ulithi on the next day, acting as part of the screen for three fleet oilers on their voyage to the Tarraguna Anchorage near San Pedro Bay, which was reached on 7 March. Anchored in the bay for several days, she became part of Task Group 51.1 in preparation for the

invasion of Okinawa, and on 10 March participated in anti-aircraft firing exercises. With the task group, the ship conducted rehearsals for the landings in Leyte Gulf between 14 and 16 March, then returned to the anchorage.[22]

Okinawa

On 21 March, Task Group 51.1, known as the Western Islands Attack Group, departed for the

G4M Betty bomber, flying above the transports she was escorting for the night. This was Oberrender's first Japanese aircraft sighting of the campaign. She fruitlessly fired 20 mm rounds at the aircraft, which did not attack.[24]

A map of Okinawa with surrounding lines denoting radar picket locations
Radar picket stations during the Battle of Okinawa. The outer anti-submarine screen, where Oberrender was attacked, began at the Motobu Peninsula, went around Kerama Retto, and ended off southeast Okinawa.[25]

When the invasion of Okinawa began on 1 April, known as L-Day, the task unit was dissolved and Task Group 51.5 under Captain

D3A Val dive bomber with her AA fire in two separate actions on 2 April. A day later, the ship stood alongside fellow destroyer escort Foreman was damaged by a bomb, and she temporarily left her patrol station to escort the attack transport Kenton into Hagushi Bay. Oberrender departed Okinawa to escort attack transports returning to Saipan on 5 April, returning to Okinawa after a stopover at Ulithi on 17 April.[26]

Back in the Okinawa vicinity, she and fellow destroyer escort

G3M Nell bomber.[28]

View of a ship with twisted hull plating
Starboard side damage near forward fireroom

While stationed with the outer anti-submarine screen to the west of the island on 9 May, Oberrender went to

decommissioned on 11 July and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 25 July. Her serviceable equipment was removed and the hulk was used as a target for gunnery practice, being sunk on 6 November 1945.[2][31]

Awards

Oberrender received three

battle stars for World War II service,[2] one each for her participation in the Leyte landings, the Lingayen Gulf Landing, and the assault and occupation of Okinawa.[35]

Footnotes

  1. ^ DANFS states that casualties totaled 24,[2] but Morison and Spencer's after-action report state the figure provided in the main text.[32][33]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Friedman 1982, pp. 141, 149.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h DANFS Oberrender.
  3. ^ a b c Friedman 1982, p. 421.
  4. ^ Bauer & Roberts 1991, p. 235.
  5. ^ Friedman 1981, p. 149.
  6. ^ Friedman 1981, p. 146.
  7. ^ Spencer 1944a, pp. 1–2.
  8. ^ Spencer 1944b, pp. 1–2.
  9. ^ Spencer 1944c, p. 1.
  10. ^ Spencer 1944c, pp. 2–3.
  11. ^ Spencer 1944d, pp. 1–3.
  12. ^ Spencer 1944d, pp. 3–4.
  13. ^ Spencer 1944e, pp. 1–4.
  14. ^ a b Spencer 1944f, pp. 1–5.
  15. ^ Spencer 1944g, pp. 1–2.
  16. ^ USS Mount Hood Explosion Board of Investigation 1944, pp. 35–38.
  17. ^ Spencer 1944h, pp. 1–4.
  18. ^ Spencer 1945a, p. 3.
  19. ^ Spencer 1945a, pp. 3–4.
  20. ^ Spencer 1945a, pp. 5–6.
  21. ^ Spencer 1945b, pp. 1–5.
  22. ^ a b Spencer 1945c, pp. 1–2.
  23. ^ Morison 1960, p. 375.
  24. ^ Spencer 1945c, pp. 3–5.
  25. ^ Morison 1960, p. 178.
  26. ^ Spencer 1945d, pp. 1–4.
  27. ^ Spencer 1945d, pp. 5–7.
  28. ^ Spencer 1945e, pp. 1–2.
  29. ^ Spencer 1945f, p. 9.
  30. ^ Spencer 1945f, p. 25.
  31. ^ a b Stern 2010, p. 269.
  32. ^ a b Morison 1960, pp. 268–269.
  33. ^ a b Spencer 1945f, pp. 29–30.
  34. ^ Rielly 2010, p. 263.
  35. ^ Bureau of Naval Personnel 1948, pp. 51–52, 132.

Bibliography

  • Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
    ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9
    .
  • Decorations, Medals, Ribbons, Badges of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard 1861–1948. NAVPERS 15790. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Naval Personnel. 1948.
    OCLC 2504188
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-85177-238-7
    .
  • Friedman, Norman (1982). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
    ISBN 978-0-87021-733-3
    .
  • OCLC 7649498
    .
  • "Oberrender (DE-344)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  • Rielly, Robin (2010). Kamikaze Attacks of World War II: A Complete History of Japanese Suicide Strikes on American Ships, by Aircraft and Other Means. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company.
    ISBN 978-0-7864-4654-4
    .
  • Stern, Robert C. (2010). Fire From the Sky: Surviving the Kamikaze Threat. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword.
    ISBN 978-1-8483-2038-3
    .

Military documents

External links

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