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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Eldridge (DE-173)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - Y - X - A

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - World War II Victory Medal

Class: Cannon      Type: DET (diesel-electric tandem motor drive, long hull, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1,240 tons (std) 1,620 tons (full)   Dimensions: 306' (oa), 300' (wl) x 36' 10" x 11' 8" (max)
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1),
1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Machinery: 4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 knots   Range: 10,800 nm @ 12 knots   Crew: 15 / 201

Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Federal Shipbuilding, Port Newark NJ on 22 February 1943
Launched 25 July 1943, Commissioned 27 August 1943
Decommissioned 17 June 1946, Stricken 26 March 1951

Fate: To Greece 15 January 1951, renamed Leon (D-54), stricken in 1991
(Reported to be laid up in Souda Bay Crete in Terminal Reserve as of 1-98)

NOTE:
Eldridge was the subject of the much publicized book and movie "The Philadelphia Experiment"

Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
8k	John Eldridge, Jr., born 10 October 1903 in Buckingham County, Va., graduated from the Naval Academy in 1927. After flight training at Pensacola, Fla., he served at various stations on aviation duty. From 11 September 1941 he was Commander, Scouting Squadron 71, attached to USS *Wasp* (CV-7). Lieutenant Commander Eldridge was killed in action in the Solomons 2 November 1942. For his extraordinary heroism in leading the air attack on Japanese positions in the initial invasion of the Solomons, 7 and 8 August 1942, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. USS *Eldridge, DE-173, was the first ship named in his honor. (Photo from the Home of Heroes)*	Bill Gonyo
97k	*Eldridge, of the Bostwick* class doing her full speed. These ships retained the long-hull form of the *Buckley* class, but are distinguished by their funnel form, taller than that of the *Evarts* type. [US Navy photo, from the book "Allied Escort Ships of World War II (A Complete Survey)", by Peter Elliott]	Edib Krlicbegovic, Bosnia - Hercegovina
13k	undated wartime image	Rick McMillian
31k	undated wartime image
82k	undated wartime image
178k	15 January 1951: Boston MA - *Eldridge*'s commissioning ceremony into the Greek Navy.
46k	circa 1952: as HNS *Leon* (D-54)	Robert Hurst
86k	1960's: as HNS *Leon* (D-54),	Tony Vrailas

View the USS Eldridge (DE-173), DANFS history entry
located on the US Naval Historical Center website.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

None

Note About Contacts

Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has been
made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list only
a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists or rosters available. Please see the Frequently Asked
Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

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Page Last Updated 14 March 2008