USS J. Richard Ward (DE-243) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Following shakedown training in waters off Bermuda, J. Richard Ward reached Charleston, South Carolina, 1 September 1943 where she joined Atlantic convoy escort forces.

Steaming between Norfolk, Virginia, and Gibraltar in the months that followed, the ship made three complete convoy voyages in support of the Allied effort in Europe.

After a short training period off Bermuda, the ships began scouring the Atlantic for submarines, making attacks on several sound contacts during August.

After replenishing at Argentia, Newfoundland, the task group continued operations against German submarines, now greatly reduced in numbers, before returning to New York 9 October.