The Eldridge, when I heard the name of this newly built destroyer, suddenly felt a very familiar feeling, as if I had heard it somewhere before. But before I could figure out where I had heard the name of the destroyer, the launching ceremony of the new ship officially began.

The destroyer Eldridge seemed to be pushed violently by an invisible hand, and then the entire hull slid sideways along the inclined slipway. The behemoth, made of thousands of tons of steel, instantly fell into the water, stirred up a huge wave of emptiness, and quickly straightened itself, swaying violently several times, and finally came to a steady stop in the water. Although this process of changing from static to dynamic to static was not long, it still caused a strong visual impact and spiritual shock to me.

Colonel Henry turned around and said to me, who was still looking at the water in a daze, "General, how is it, you've never seen a ship launched like this, right?" ”

I immediately shook my head and replied honestly, "Colonel Henry, this is the first time I have seen a ship launch with my own eyes. However, I have heard others say that the ship is either launched by floating or longitudinally, but why does this ship take longitudinal launch? ”

Seeing my dazed look, Colonel Henry explained to me: "General, this lateral slip we have adopted uses a short lateral slipway, and the ship uses gravity to roll sideways and fall into the water, and then relies on buoyancy to straighten the hull and float in the water. This side-slip launching method is more suitable for places where the water area is small, the slipway is not long enough, and there is no open water for longitudinal launching. It is especially suitable for shipyards where fighters build ships in batches in a centralized manner. ”

I waited for him to finish, thought for a moment and asked, "Colonel, the vibration and impact of this lateral slide into the water on the hull are relatively large. Will it cause deformation or damage to the equipment installed on board? ”

As soon as my words fell, and before the translator behind me could translate them, Henry's face showed a look of surprise, and he actually said to himself in Russian: "General, you are really not simple, you have discovered the defects of this way of getting into the water. True, due to the sideslip launching into the water, the vibration and impact on the hull are relatively large. Therefore, the requirements for the structure of the ship are high, especially for the outfitting structure on the ship when launched, otherwise it is easy to cause deformation or damage to the equipment installed on the ship. The Eldridge will stay in the harbor for another day or two. Replenish the ship with some supplies and have the mechanic check for any major breakdowns, and when everything is ready, it will sail to Philadelphia. ”

I looked at Lieutenant Colonel Henry in amazement and asked, "Colonel." You. You actually speak Russian?! ”

Lieutenant Colonel Henry nodded and said affirmatively, "Yes, General." It is not surprising that I had been to Moscow at the end of 1941 as a military attache in the Lend-Lease negotiating group, and had lived there for almost a year, so it is not surprising that I knew Russian. ”

I grinned, wanting to laugh but couldn't. I can only say: "You have only been in Moscow for a year, and you can speak Russian so fluently." It's not easy. ......"Colonel, where did you say that the destroyer Eldridge would go in a few days?" and as I said this, he jumped back to the place where he had just said that the Eldridge was about to go, and asked hurriedly, Colonel. ”

"Philadelphia!" Henry, thinking that I didn't know where Philadelphia was, made a point of telling me, "In Pennsylvania." ”

Philadelphia and the USS Eldridge, the moment these two words were connected together, they immediately pieced together the fragments of memory in my mind and formed the term "Philadelphia Experiment" in the shortest possible time.

That's right, the Philadelphia Experiment.

On October 28, 1943, the U.S. Navy conducted a secret test of an artificial strong magnetic field in Philadelphia, known as the "Philadelphia Experiment". During the experiment, the destroyer Eldridge and its crew were successfully thrown into another space, during which the experimenters activated pulsers and non-pulsers, causing a huge magnetic field to form around the ship. Then the entire ship was enveloped in a cloud of green light, and the ship and crew began to disappear from view. By the time the experiment was terminated, the ship had been moved to Norfolk, 479 kilometers away, and after a few minutes, it was back in Philadelphia.

According to some insiders at the time, something incredible happened to the ship's crew when the Eldridge reappeared in Philadelphia. Most of the crew were disgusted and disoriented, some disappeared for no apparent reason, and even more surprising were five crew members embedded in the walls and decks, completely blending in with the ship's steel plates. Later, after some of the crew members who participated in the forced retirement, they were affected by this experiment and always disappeared for no reason in their lives, and then reappeared, to the surprise of onlookers.

Although the United States has also used this "Philadelphia Experiment" as material to make a lot of film and television dramas, there are always many people who can think that the so-called "Philadelphia Experiment" is nothing at all, and cite a lot of data to refute those who are convinced.

To be honest, I'm also curious at the moment, and if it weren't for the fact that this experiment is still half a year away, I really plan to stay and see if this much-debated "Philadelphia Experiment" really exists.

Seeing the Eldridge in the distance surrounded by small motorboats, and many workers or sailors boarding the gangway, I wanted to get on the ship and see it. After much of a struggle of thoughts, I finally mustered up the courage to say to Henry, "Colonel Henry, may I go to the ship and have a look?" ”

"General, do you want to go and see it on the ship?" Colonel Henry was startled by my sudden thought, and he hesitated for a moment before he asked carefully, "This ship should be in a mess now, and there is nothing to see." ”

"I just wanted to go up and see what the damage to the ship was with the lateral side slip into the water." Of course, I can't tell Henry's true thoughts, so I can only say nonsense: "Let me increase my knowledge, I don't know what you think, Colonel?" ”

Hearing me say this, Henry's face showed an expression of embarrassment, he hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded decisively and said, "General, please later, I will call and ask for instructions." ”

With my permission, he walked over to the table, put the binoculars on the table, picked up the microphone and dialed a quick number. Soon I heard him say, "Hey, operator?" I'm Captain Victor. Henry, I have something important to find the chief of staff, please help me transfer to the war room immediately. ”

After the phone was connected, Colonel Henry said directly without saying hello or without any opening remarks: "Chief of Staff, I accompanied a general from the Soviet Union to watch the launching ceremony of the destroyer Eldridge today, and now she wants to go up to the ship to have a look, is it okay?" ”

He didn't speak for a while, just silently listened to the answer of the chief of staff of the navy, and then replied: "No, chief of staff, she is not a navy, just an army general, she just wants to get on the destroyer to visit, and she will definitely not ......"

Seeing that Henry was suddenly silent again, an ominous premonition suddenly surged in my heart, did the chief of staff of the Navy think that I was going to board the Eldridge in order to steal information about the ships of the United States Navy? I knew it would be so troublesome, so I didn't make this request to Henry, and it turned out that it was difficult to ride a tiger now.

I saw Colonel Henry's face flushed, presumably rebuked by the chief of staff on the other end of the phone. I was about to tell him that I was going to give up the idea of going on the boat to see it, lest he fall into such an embarrassing situation. But he saw Colonel Henry straighten his waist and said stubbornly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, General Oshanina was ordered by me to accompany Chief of Staff Marshall to Norfolk Naval Base to watch the launching ceremony of the Eldridge. And this matter was brought up by General Marshall himself, and I think that if he can trust the generals of friendly armies so much, why can't we trust her too? ”

After saying these words, he stopped speaking again, and I only heard his breathing become heavy and rapid, as if he was choked by the chief of staff who answered the phone.

Suddenly, Colonel Henry raised his voice and said solemnly: "Chief of Staff, since you are not willing to take responsibility in this matter, then let me be responsible." If something goes wrong, I'm solely responsible. With that, he took the microphone off his ear and quickly placed it on the base of the telephone.

After Henry put down the phone, he turned to me and said, "I'm sorry, General. I made a request to the Chief of Staff of the Navy that you wanted to board the destroyer USS Eldridge, but unfortunately he refused. ”

Although such an answer has long been in my guess, I am still a little disappointed when I really hear him answer me like this. I waved my hand and said helplessly, "Colonel, since your chief of naval staff does not approve of me boarding the Eldridge, then leave it at that, so as not to embarrass you." ”

After listening to me, Henry bowed his head and pondered for a moment, then looked up and said to me: "Although the chief of staff does not agree with you to get on the warship, I can go directly to the captain of the Eldridge and ask him to secretly let you go to the warship." Follow me. When he had said this, he walked out.

I wanted to see how he could get to the captain of the destroyer Eldridge, so I followed him and walked out of the container-converted observation post.

When Henry came out of the house, he walked briskly to the jeep parked outside, and asked the ensign sitting in the car, "Do you know who the captain of the destroyer Eldridge is?" ”

The second lieutenant didn't know why Henry suddenly asked that, but he replied honestly, "It's Lieutenant Colonel Ehrman!" ”

"Do you know where to find him?" Colonel Henry continued to ask.

"Yes, Colonel!" The second lieutenant replied crisply.

When Henry heard this, he pulled open the door behind the car, turned to me, and said, "Get in the car, General, now let the second lieutenant take us to Lieutenant Colonel Elman." (To be continued.) )

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