- Yes
- No
Hello everyone, today I bring back a suggestion for a Cannon class Destroyer Escort, the USS Eldridge (DE-173).
(Note: This suggestion is specifically for the USS Eldridge, not other members of the Cannon class as a whole)
The USS Eldridge was a destroyer escort best known for being the subject of a hoax known as “The Philadelphia Experiment” or “Project Rainbow”. This story is just an urban myth, and there are several outlandish allegations as to what happened during it. Supposedly this experiment happened in 1943 and entailed attempting to use electromagnetism to cloak the ship. Where this really goes off the rails is what happened to the ship and the crew during the experiment in the Philadelphia naval yard. There are claims that a strange green fog appeared, and the ship turned completely invisible to the eye. Even more bizarrely, there are claims that the ship teleported or even outright time travelled and appeared in another shipyard. Then, when the ship reappeared, the crew had somehow become sick, crazy, missing, or worst of all, fused to the ship. This story is most assuredly just a myth, and these things did not actually happen. It was not even in Philadelphia in the timeframe this supposedly happened.
And no, it will not be able to do those things in game either.
A quote from source [1] gives a more plausible explanation as to what was being tested on the Eldridge.
According to Edward Dudgeon, who served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Engstrom, which was dry-docked in the Philadelphia Naval Yard while the Eldridge was, both ships did have classified devices on board. They were neither invisibility cloaks nor teleportation drives designed by aliens, but instead, they scrambled the magnetic signatures of ships using the degaussing technique, which provided protection from magnetic torpedoes aboard U-boats.
This would explain why it was rumored cloaking technology was tested on the USS Eldridge, but it does not mean the ship literally turned invisible.
The actual history of this ship was far more ordinary. DE-173 was launched on July 25 of 1943 in Newark, New Jersey. It would enter service on August 27. Its main mission was to protect Allied ships, especially from submarines and U-boats. The Eldridge would serve in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean theaters. Between January 4, 1944 and May 9, 1945 it would escort convoys carrying men and materials in the Mediterranean, successfully making 9 voyages. It would be decommissioned by the US on June 17, 1946, but it wasn’t quite done yet. It would be transferred to the Greek Royal Hellenic Navy on July 15, 1951 under the Mutual Defense Assistance program, alongside other destroyer escorts, the USS Slater, USS Ebert, and USS Garfield Thomas. Here, the Eldridge would be renamed to the HNS Leon D-54. The Leon would serve the Greece navy until 1991, when it was decommissioned and sadly scrapped.
The USS Eldridge had a displacement of 1,240 tons standard, or 1,620 tons fully loaded. It was 93 meters long with a beam of 11.23 meters and a draft of 3.12 meters. It was armed with 3 3-inch dual purpose guns, 2 twin 40mm Bofors AA guns, 8 20mm Oerlikon AA guns, 3 21-inch torpedo tubes, a hedgehog projector (anti-sub mortar), 8 depth charge projectors, and 2 depth charge tracks. This made it well-armed against submarines and fairly armed against aircraft too. It had a top speed of 21 knots, or 39 kph.
In War Thunder, the DE-173 USS Eldridge would serve as a support ship, probably on par with early destroyers. The speed would be underwhelming, but the armament is decent and it would provide good AA protection for earlier ranks in naval. If submarines are added, the Eldridge would be a very good choice to counter them. It’s somewhat smaller than regular destroyers as well, making it a slightly smaller target.
Thank you for reading my suggestion.
Sources:
Spoiler
This Is the Truth Behind WWII’s Creepy Philadelphia Experiment | Military.com [1]
The Philadelphia Experiment Hoax :: The USS Eldridge DE-173, Photo Gallery by Starfire Tor
The USS Eldridge: A Journey Through History - vividvistas.eu
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-navy-ships/alphabetical-listing/e/uss-eldridge--de-173-0.html
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/p/philadelphia-experiment.html
https://de173.com/