Greek destroyer Leon (D54) explained

Leon (D54) (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Α/Τ Λέων, "Lion") was a destroyer that served with the Greek Navy between 1951 and 1992. The ship had formerly served with the United States Navy under the name, famous for its alleged role in the Philadelphia Experiment.

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 Eastern Aegean Sea and for cadet officer (midshipmen) training.^[1]

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.^[2]

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 (D31) (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Ιέραξ, "Hawk"), Aetos (D01) (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Άετός, "Eagle") and Panthir (D67) (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Πάνθηρ, "Panther"), affectionately known as the Thiria (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Θηρία, "Beasts").

Notes and References

1. Book: Vice Admiral C. Paizis-Paradellis, HN. Hellenic Warships 1829–2001. Athens, Greece. The Society for the study of Greek History. 2002. 960-8172-14-4. 111. 3rd .
2. Web site: Leon D-54 (1951-1992). Hellenic Navy. 2009-09-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20090928023019/http://www.hellenicnavy.gr/leon51_92_en.asp. 2009-09-28. dead.