Name Eldridge Ordered 1942 Commissioned 27 August 1943 Construction started 22 February 1943 | Namesake John Eldridge, Jr. Laid down 22 February 1943 Decommissioned 17 June 1946 Launched 25 July 1943 | |
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HS Leon (D-54) (Greek: Α/Τ Λέων, "Lion") was a Cannon-class destroyer that served with the Greek Navy between 1951–1992. The ship had formerly served with the United States Navy under the name USS Eldridge (DE-173), famous for its alleged role in the Philadelphia Experiment.
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Service history
Leon was transferred to Greece under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. It was put to service in January 1951 by Vice Admiral D. Foifas. She was used mainly for patrols in the Easter Aegean Sea and for cadet officer (midshipmen) training.
Leon was decommissioned on November 15. 1992 and later in November 1999 it was sold as scrap to the Piraeus-based V&J Scrapmetal Trading Ltd.
Sister ships
Leon belonged to a group of four Cannon-class destroyers that were transferred to the Greek Navy in 1951. The other three were Ierax (D-31) (Greek: Ιέραξ, "Hawk"), Aetos (D-01) (Greek: Άετός, "Eagle") and Panthir (D-67) (Greek: Πάνθηρ, "Panther"), affectionately known as the Thiria (Greek: Θηρία, "Beasts").