USS Eldridge (DE-173)

USS Eldridge (DE-173)

USS Eldridge (DE-173) ca. 1944
History
United States
Namesake:	John Eldridge, Jr.
Ordered:	1942
Builder:	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newark, New Jersey
Laid down:	22 February 1943
Launched:	25 July 1943
Commissioned:	27 August 1943
Decommissioned:	17 June 1946
Struck:	26 March 1951
Fate:	Sold to Greece, 15 January 1951 as Leon (D54)
General characteristics
Class and type:	Cannon-class destroyer escort
Displacement:	1,240 long tons (1,260 t) (standard) 1,620 long tons (1,650 t) (full load)
Length:	306 ft (93 m) o/a 300 ft (91 m) w/l
Beam:	36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Draft:	11 ft 8 in (3.56 m)
Installed power:	6,000 hp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive 2 × screws
Speed:	21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h)
Range:	10,800 nmi (12,400 mi; 20,000 km) at 12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h)
Complement:	15 officers and 201 enlisted
Armament:	3 × Mk. 22 3"/50 caliber guns 2 × 40 mm Mk. 1 AA guns (1×2) 8 × 20 mm Mk. 4 AA cannons 3 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (1×3) 1 × Hedgehog Mk.10 anti-submarine mortar (144 rounds) 8 × Mk. 6 depth charge projectors 2 × Mk. 9 depth charge tracks

USS Eldridge (DE-173), a Cannon-class destroyer escort, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Lieutenant Commander John Eldridge, Jr., a hero of the invasion of the Solomon Islands. Its keel was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newark, New Jersey. Eldridge was launched on 25 July 1943, sponsored by Eldridge's widow Mrs. John Eldridge Jr., and commissioned on 27 August 1943 with Lieutenant C. R. Hamilton, USNR, in command.

Between 4 January 1944 and 9 May 1945, Eldridge sailed on the vital task of escorting to the Mediterranean Sea men and materials to support Allied operations in North Africa and on into southern Europe. It made nine voyages to deliver convoys safely to Casablanca, Bizerte, and Oran.

Eldridge departed New York City on 28 May 1945 for service in the Pacific. En route to Saipan in July, it made contact with an underwater object and immediately attacked, but no results were observed. It arrived at Okinawa on 7 August for local escort and patrol, and with the end of hostilities a week later, continued to serve as escort on the Saipan–Ulithi–Okinawa routes until November. Eldridge was placed out of commission in reserve 17 June 1946.