Ships of the Experiment

A number of ships are described as being part of, or witness to, the Philadelphia Experiment. Below we will discuss the various ships in detail, and their alleged involvement in the experiment. This table shows the Eldridge (The main ship said to of been the experimental vessel), sister ships produced at the time, and any other ships mentioned to be possibly involved.

The First Test Ships

In 1940 Joseph Dunninger a Magician (known as “The Amazing Dunninger”, was cited as one of the most famous and proficient mentalists of all time) submitted ideas on battleship invisibility to the U.S. Navy from a “magician’s point of view.” Could this of sparked the interest of the Navy starting them on a path to develop invisibility technology?

“Mr. Dunninger said he had demonstrated his apparatus, which made a model battleship invisible, at the United States Department {of the Navy} in Washington.” [1a]

The first ship test, allegedly performed in 1940, was on a small unmanned, unnamed ship in the Brooklyn Naval Yard. The equipment was put on the ship and powered from two adjacent ships, with the sought-after invisibility a complete success.

U.S.S. Eldridge Destroyer Escort (De 173)

Since the publication of Berlitz and Moore’s “The Philadelphia Experiment” in 1979 breathed new life into the PX legend for a whole new generation of readers, it has been accepted without question that the name of the ship used in the experiment was the U.S.S. Eldridge, also known as the DE 173. But how do we know this? Did Carl Allen ever specifically name the ship used in the experiment? And if so, just when did Carl Allen first state that the Eldridge was the ship involved?

“the little experimental Navy ship, the DE 173…”

“watched as thereafter the DE 173 became rapidly invisible to human eyes…”

“in trying to describe the sounds that force field made as it circled around the DE 173” – Carl M. Allen [1]

“Whatever the truth of the incident, the destroyer mentioned as taking part in the experiment, the U.S.S. Eldridge, D-173, did exist.” – Charles Berlitz [2]

“…It had spread out from the target ship (the DE173).” – Carl Allen

In the early accounts (pre-Berlitz and Moore) the name of the main ship used in the experiment is not given. Carl Allen only states in his letters to Morris Jessup that a “destroyer escort” was used. It was later, when Bill Moore interviewed him in The Philadelphia Experiment, that Allen mentions the ship’s I.D. number as “DE 173.” So it would appear that there is no identification assigned to the ship until Moore’s book came along in 1979. As far as Moore’s treatment of the name Eldridge, it seems to appear without prior warning on page 155, tied to the DE 173 by Moore himself. Is this Moore’s own assumption? Or did Carl Allen make the identification?

Charles Berlitz

But wait! In Charles Berlitz’s book “Without A Trace”, (published in 1977, previous to Moore’s involvement in writing about the PX) both names for the ship appear, seemingly out of nowhere! Where did Mr. Berlitz get his information? He does not seem to mention any interview with Carl Allen. In an earlier publication by Berlitz, “The Bermuda Triangle” (published in 1974), there is an account of the PX but lacking a name or I.D. number for the test craft. Question: When did these names materialize and where did they originate? Is Charles Berlitz the source for the names, or did he get them from other current publications of the time period, or did Carl Allen supply them? Was Bill Moore collaborating with Berlitz earlier than the writing of The Philadelphia Experiment, since the interview with Allen appears in Moore’s 1979 book, in which Allen clearly refers to the ship as the DE 173?

To further the mystery, in 1979 Carl Allen states that there were two DE-173’s [3] outfitted with the same experimental equipment. Later in December of the same year Carl changes his story yet again. (The following paragraph was found in an annotated copy of the Moore & Berlitz “The Philadelphia Experiment” that Carl sent home to his parents.)

“So as TWO ships, DE-173 AND DE-168 (or some such I.D. Number) were BOTH patrolling our sector of the convoy, I HAD A CHOICE… LOGIC INFORMED me that it was, LOGICALLY, the DE-173. 1 WAS WRONG & it is a good thing I was wrong BECAUSE THE REAL, ACTUAL experimental ship’s LOG-BOOK, chock-full of RECORDS, REMAINS PROBABLY UNDESTROYED AND AVAILABLE…” – Carl Allen [4]

Later in a newspaper interview for the Colorado Centennial County News (Aug 22nd, 1986) Carl States;

“Einstein was on a test ship, the DE-168. I was on the SS Furuseth. We were in a military convoy with many, many ships. I was on the bow….The forcefield was under my nose, you might say – under my chest and neck. It had spread out from the target ship (the DE-173).” – Carl Allen

Well, just at the point where we had decided that we had properly catalogued all of the apparent confusion over the issue, we were confronted with the evidence that Moore gives on p. 238 of “The Philadelphia Experiment:”

Reilly H. Crabb

Researcher Reilly H. Crabb of the Borderland Sciences Research Foundation (BSRF) received a letter during the 1960’s from a Navy man named “Griffin” who claimed to have information on the subject. Moore relates that

“He went on to say that some years before while stationed on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean, he had encountered the old DE 173, then serving in the Greek Navy under the name Leon. According to Griffin’s letter, during this ship’s stay in port a certain individual had pointed out to him that this was the ship which the Americans had tried to make invisible during World War II….”

“Allende himself had named only the S.S. Furuseth in his letters to Jessup, and in fact only many years later disclosed that the name of the experimental ship was the DE 173! If Griffin’s informant didn’t get his information from Allende, then where did he get it?”

So from this information it would appear that it was Griffin’s letter to Crabb that first provides us with the names DE 173 and Léon (with no reference to the ship’s previous name, such as Eldridge). Is it possible that Carl Allen, reading the UFO-type journals of the time, picked up on this and so had that information several years later when interviewed by Moore?

Now let’s look at the “official” history of the Eldridge as provided by the U.S. Navy.

The Naval Department’s “official history” of the Eldridge states that the ship was one of four destroyer escorts of the Bostwick class constructed using the same plans. The Eldridge was built by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry-docks, Port Newark, New Jersey, and was launched on July 25, 1943. The ship was commissioned in the New York Navy Yard on August 27, 1943. (refer to Table 2 / Top of page, For the physical dimensions and other statistics of the Eldridge, refer to the Table 1). The Eldridge’s shakedown cruise began early in September, finished on December 28th, and took place around Bermuda, British West Indies area. Between January 4th and May 9th, 1945 the Eldridge completed nine trips escorting convoys. The ship was decommissioned on June 17th 1946, and finally transferred to Greece under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program, as one of four ships in U.S. Cannon class, to the Greek Navy on January 15th, 1951. The Eldridge was renamed the Léon.

Below is the official history taken from the Eldridge’s War Diary;

I have to say after digging though various ships logs, war diaries, etc. that all can cross reference each other (for example I can find several times the USS Eldridge comes up in the USS Amick’s logs as they patrolled/traveled together (mind you this was in December of 1943.) I even have examples from the USS Lansdale (DD-426) Logs that is a third view of an event that lists both the Amick and Eldridge traveling together. The point here is some researches say the logs of the Eldridge could be falsified. I could see this if it was one ship, but when the same timelines appear in multiple ship logs / reports it would be unreasonable to think so many people on so many different ships would be involved in a cover-up. There is always the possibility it did not happen when Carl Allen remembers and it was just a few days where the Eldridge was “alone” however Carl directly says he witnessed this while in convoy with other ships.

N.Y. Naval Yard War Diary Pages

The Eldridge’s War Diary / comments section of the log books are intact and currently available on microfilm. They include the date, location of the ship at 08:00, 12:00, 20:00, and hand written/signed notes every four hours. The following people served on the Eldridge in October 1943; (the hand writing makes some names exact spelling questionable.)

• William K. Van Allen – Lt (Navigator)
• Charles R. Hamilton – Lt (Commanding Officer)
• Charles Hartz – Lt.
• Robert L. Leblair – Ensign
• Richard Brooks – Lt.
• Max Gibbs – Ensign
• Ralph C. Swartz – Lt.
• Charles B. Salsbuary – Lt.
• John R. Metz – Ensign
• Bruce McDonald – Ensign
• T. Lyons (Pilot)
• C. B. Barnes (Pilot)
• A. Arnesen (Pilot came aboard on Oct 29,1943 at 12:03)
• S.J. Kelley (Pilot) [8]

The following names come from a article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, on March 26,1999

• Ed Wise (from Salem, Ind.)
• Ted Davis (from Grand Island, Neb.)
• Bill Van Allen (Executive officer and then captain of the Eldridge in 1943 and 1944, from Charlotte, NC)
• Ray Perrino (from Cranston, RI)
• Mike Perlstein (from Warminster)
• Ed Tempany (from Carteret, NJ)

Another source of names can be found on this site U.S.S. ELDRIDGE (DE-173) Crew Roster.

In February/2018 I received 65 pages of the Eldridge’s Crew List, all name, addresses, everything for 1943… Seems just a bit overwhelming when I have spent so much time deciphering chicken scratch on forms and old documents, witness accounts, log books, ect.. To just have it all complete and intact , typed, clear.. with little mystery (eg exact spelling of names, etc.) Below is a sample of four pages from the logs;

In 2017 I contacted Susan Sallamack, daughter of Edward Tempany, her firm statement on the PX is as follows;

“My Dad, Edward J. Tempany, was on the Eldridge from the day it was commissioned until it was placed out of commission. His entire family observed the launch a month earlier. My Dad was a no-nonsense guy. He absolutely denied that anything like the Philadelphia Experiment occurred, nor would he believe anything like it. He was one of those guys with skills — all sorts of skills, Engine room, Electric, Refrigeration, Construction, you name it, he did it. A critical thinker. Don’t fall for this”

Comparison of “U.S.” (Pre-Transfer) and “Greek” (After Trasfer to the Greek Navy) figures on the Eldridge, the book “Combat Fleets of the World: 1982/83” issued by the Naval Institute press, and the Eldridge’s War Diary – Microfilm NRS1978-28.

“Also inside the ship [Léon/1996] are a lot of wires that do not go anywhere… they just exist and give the ship engineers a big headache until they realized that this wiring were the remains of the experiment’s machinery.” – George Pantoulas

Liberty Ship S.S. Andrews Furuseth

Carl Allen states that he witnessed the strange experiment conducted on the Eldridge from the deck of the S.S. Andrew Furuseth. Carl goes on to say that he placed his hand and arm into the “Hyperfield” generated by the experiment. Since Carl Allen claims that the field extends approximately 100 yards out from the Eldridge, the Furuseth would have to have been positioned between 90-110 yards from the Eldridge.

“I was on the SS Furuseth. We were in a military convoy with many, many ships. I was on the bow. There is a place where you can stand on top of thick covers, about a foot above the deck. That’s where I was. The railing was curved. I hooked my left hand under the railing and leaned out as far as I could. The forcefield was under my nose, you might say – under my chest and neck. It had spread out from the target ship (the DE173).” – Carl Allen

In the 100’s of books written on the experiment you will never see the full/side view of the S.S.Andrew Furuseth, I have tracked down some new images of the ship never before used in publications. (above)

A check into the history of the S.S. Andrew Furuseth revealed the following facts. The ship was one of six Liberty ships named for labor leaders, and one of 174 ships total. Keel laid down on July 22nd of 1942, and launched on September 7th, 1942 as Hull No. 491 at Permanente Metals Corporation’s #1 Yard in Richmond, California. The Furuseth was designated a War Shipping Administration Transport with a capacity of 550 men. According to the Matson Navigation Company, the Furuseth completed two voyages to North Africa: The first on August 13th, 1943 (New York – Norfolk – North Africa) and the second on October 25th, 1943. The captain of the Andrew Furuseth at the time was William S. Dodge.

In 1946 the Furuseth was sold to Norway after the war, and was renamed the Essi and served in the Norwegian Merchant Fleet. [9a]

In 1959, she was sold to Japanese owners and renamed Niobe. In June of 1967 the history of the Furuseth ends when it was scraped at Hirao, Japan. [10]

Other Ships

Was going though some of my source materials and noticed out of the two original massive “Damage Control Manuals” used on ships in the 1940’s (they measure 11″x17″) one is from tDE-168!

I was able to verify that the Amick and Eldridge were in convoy / traveling together in 1943/44 on a few occasions. It’s entirely possible that Carl Allen had seen these two ships together from another ship in convoy.

USS Engstrom (DE 50)

Edward Dudgeon served on the U.S.S. Engstrom (DE 50) from June 1943 on. Mr. Dudgeon comments that the Eldridge left Philadelphia bound for Norfolk via the Chesapeake-Delaware canal around 11:00 pm. The Engstrom (the ship Mr. Dudgeon served on) passed the Eldridge (returning to Philadelphia) on its way to Norfolk early the next morning. The Eldridge’s round trip is estimated at six hours. To the Merchant ships the same trip would take two days, as they did not use the same channel. Therefore they would perceive that it would be impossible for the Eldridge to complete the trip in the time elapsed. In other words, the Eldridge took a “short-cut” and now everybody thinks it teleported![13a]

I did a fair amount of research and looked at Edward Allen Dudgeon to verify he was actually on the USS Engstrom (DE-50) as he said, and did he ever see the USS Eldridge..and the official answer is… YES;

I found his name and service record number on eight pages of quarterly crew lists from 1943~1944. The Microfilm log books from the Engstrom sadly are poor and a lot of the pages really not readable, so I do not have exact times the ship may of been docked or patrolling with the Eldridge in 43/44.However I did find a few times they were in patrol together; Task Unit 94.7.22 on August 1st, 1945 (also had the DE-168 USS Amick in the group as well as the DE-173 USS Eldridge) I only bring the Amick up as I find it interesting they were in Patrol together and Carl Allen states the same in a few places as well. I also pulled his Social Security Death Index Card, it lists he passed away on the 2nd of December 1999 in Corpus Christi, TX. Strangely I was the first person to ever pull his record.

S.S. Malay

The Cargo Ship S.S. Malay reportedly witnessed the experiment. [14]

“{In May or June of 1947 The SS Maylay} was nearly capsized by a kilotomic explosion… it is the only ship to have survived the explosion of a UFO… I ought to know, I was a crew member, steering the ship at the time.” – Carl M. Allen

Carl said he witnessed a UFO incident in May or June of 1947 in some interviews; 1946 in others. He only served on the SS Malay from May 8th, 1946 to June 22nd, 1946. This timeframe does fit with some of his statements. While doing research into the ship I did find a “SS Malay” Tanker ship (named as such form 1933~1948) that had records of being Torpedo & Shelled on January 18th of 1942 resulting in five deaths (29 survivors.)

There was also another SS Malay, a Norwegian cargo ship in service from 1959 to 1961 and now known as SS Ambria, however this by dates alone could not be the “Malay” that witnessed the experiment in 1943, or the UFO incident in 1946/7. I did find something interesting during my research though; “Yours Truly Johnny Dollar” was one of the longest-running detective series on radio. It aired on CBS Radio for 15 minutes from 1948 to 1962. On February 10, 1950 the episode was entitled “The SS Malay Trader Ship.”

The SS Malay Steam tanker (8,206 tons) was originally built in June of 1921 as the “Swiftwind.” for Boat Owning & Operating Co (C.D. Mallory & Co Inc), Wilmington DE. In 1933 it was renamed Malay. In 1941 it was sold to Marine Transport Line, Wilmington, Del. In 1948 sold and renamed Loideste for Aegean Shipping Co (Embiricos), London. In 1950 sold Liberia renamed Astra, 1951 sold to Greece and renamed Troy for Alexander S. Onassis., finally in August 1955 the ship was scrapped in Hamburg. I have yet to locate any crew member lists, these names come from 1942 which is several years before Carl Allen would board he ship;

• Dodge, John M., Merchant Marine, Master of the Malay
• Bennett Heblack, First Officer
• Ashby, Clifford Elwood, Merchant Marine Age 23, Fireman/Wiper
• Da Rosa, Manuel, Merchant Marine, Age 48, Chief Cook
• Hay, Adam James, Merchant Marine Age 46, Cook
• Mahmut, Arif, Merchant Marine, Fireman
• Miller, William Lewis, Merchant Marine, Utility
• Michael Zack
• Robert Nixon
• Phil Cauthorne
• Cliff Wilbraham

U.S.S. Antietam (CV-36)

In 1945 The U.S.S. Antietam (CV-36) went into the Philadelphia Naval Yard for degaussing. The crew, having heard of the PX legend, was starting to get concerned that their ship might be used for a continuation of the experiment. To ease tension, Captain J. R. Tague called all crew to quarters and read a memo from the Secretary of the Navy about the PX. The memo stated that the PX happened on October 28, 1943. This event was entered into the log of the Antietam in May, 1945. [15] The Antietam was a angled deck prototype Aircraft Carrier, and decommissioned in 1963. [16]

Walking On The Decks Of The Eldridge

Presently the Eldridge’s Sister ship the DE-766 (The last Destroyer Escort afloat in the USA) is moored on the Hudson River in Albany, New York. The USS SLATER has undergone an extensive restoration that has returned the ship to her former glory. This is an excellent opportunity to get a real first hand experience of the size and technology of the time on what is essentially a copy of the Eldridge.

The museum offers hour-long guided tours of the ship and history. I visited the Slater on various occasions, and was interviewed for television Documentaries on the ship.

For more information;

USS Slater Tour Brochure

[1a]“The Philadelphia Experiment” by Bill Moore & Charles Berlitz, Pg 231

[1]“The Philadelphia Experiment” by Bill Moore & Charles Berlitz, Pg 110-111

[2]“Without A Trace” by Charles Berlitz, Pg 171

[3]“Alias Carlos Allende” by Robert A. Goerman, Published in FATE magazine, Pg. 75

[4]“Alias Carlos Allende” by Robert A. Goerman, Published in FATE magazine, Pg. 75

[5]“Without A Trace” by Charles Berlitz, Pg 171, Paragraph 2.

[6] “Antisubmarine Action By Surface Ship” Report on microfilm # NRS 1978-28 WWII WD/RPTS.

[7]“The Philadelphia Experiment” by Bill Moore & Charles Berlitz, Pg 161-166

[8] Eldridge’s “War Diary” on Microfilm #NRS 1978-28 WWII WD/RPTS.

[9]“The Bermuda Triangle” Movie by Schick Sunn Classic Pictures

[9a]“Norwegian Merchant Fleet” website

[10]“The Liberty Ships” by L.A. Sawyer and W.H. Mitchell, Pg 122

[11]“The Philadelphia Experiment” by Bill Moore & Charles Berlitz, Pg 160

[12]“Mysteries of Mind, Space & Time – The Unexplained”, Pg. 2215

[13]“The Philadelphia Experiment” by Bill Moore & Charles Berlitz, Pg 117

[13a]“Anatomy of a Hoax: The Philadelphia Experiment Fifty Years Later” Pre-release copy mailed to me by Jacques Vallée.

[13b]“Alias Carlos Allende” by Robert A. Goerman, Published in FATE magazine, Pg. 75

[14]“Without A Trace” by Charles Berlitz, Pg 171, Paragraph 2

[15]“The Philadelphia Experiment” by Bill Moore & Charles Berlitz, Pg 251-252

[16]“Conways All The Worlds Fighting Ships 1947-1982” by Naval Institute Press, Pg 193