Service History
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.
On 15 January 1951, it was transferred under the Mutual Defense Assistance program to Greece, with whom it served as HS Leon (D-54). Leon was decommissioned on 5 November 1992, and on 11 November 1999, was sold as scrap to the Piraeus-based firm V&J Scrapmetal Trading Ltd.
Read more about this topic: USS Eldridge (DE-173)
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