USS Eldridge (DE-173)

Eldridge was a Cannon-class destroyer escort ship of the United States Navy, it is widely known as the ship of the "Philadelphia Experiment" (also referred to as Project Rainbow).

The USS Eldridge, named after Lieutenant Commander Eldridge, was launched on the 25th of July 1943 and commissioned on the 27th of August 1943. It was later placed out of commission in reserve on the 17th of June 1946.

On the 15th of January 1951, the USS Eldridge was transferred under the Mutual Defense Assistance Act to Greece, where it served as the HS Leon (D-54). The Leon was decommissioned on the 5th of November 1992.

Lieutenant Commander Eldridge, after whom the USS Eldridge was named, was born in Buckingham County, Virginia, on the 10th of October 1903. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1927. Following flight training in Pensacola, Florida, he served in various aviation roles. From the 11th of September 1941, he commanded Scouting Squadron 71, attached to the Wasp (CV-7). Tragically, Lieutenant Commander Eldridge was killed in action in the Solomon Islands on the 2nd of November 1942. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his extraordinary heroism during the initial invasion of the Solomons on the 7th and 8th of August 1942.

The construction of the USS Eldridge began on the 22nd of February 1943, at the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newark, New Jersey. It was launched on the 25th of July 1943, with sponsorship by Lieutenant Commander Eldridge's widow, Mrs. John Eldridge Jr., and commissioned on the 27th of August 1943, with Lieutenant C. R. Hamilton, USNR, assuming command.

Between the 4th of January 1944 and the 9th of May 1945, the USS Eldridge played a vital role in escorting men and materials to the Mediterranean Sea to support Allied operations in North Africa and southern Europe. It completed nine voyages, delivering convoys safely to Casablanca, Bizerte, and Oran.

In May 1945, the USS Eldridge departed New York City for service in the Pacific. During the journey to Saipan in July, it encountered an underwater object and took immediate defensive action, although no results were observed. The ship arrived at Okinawa on the 7th of August, where it provided local escort and patrol duties. Following the end of hostilities, it continued to serve as an escort on the Saipan–Ulithi–Okinawa routes until November. The USS Eldridge was then placed out of commission in reserve on the 17th of June 1946.

On the 15th of January 1951, it was transferred to Greece under the Mutual Defense Assistance Act, where it was rechristened as the Leon (D-54). The Leon was decommissioned on the 5th of November 1992, and on the 11th of November 1999, it was sold as scrap to the Piraeus-based firm V&J Scrapmetal Trading Ltd.

It's important to note that the "Philadelphia Experiment," which purported to make the USS Eldridge invisible, is widely regarded as a hoax.

Awards and Medals received by the USS Eldridge include the American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal (United States), and the Navy Occupation Service Medal with an "ASIA" clasp.