Zebu (ship)

The Zebu was a brigantine-rigged merchant vessel built in Sunderland, England in 1938. While its early history is relatively obscure, the Zebu gained notoriety later in its life due to its alleged connection to the Philadelphia Experiment, a purported naval experiment said to have been conducted by the U.S. Navy during World War II.

According to some accounts, the Zebu was docked near the USS Eldridge (DE-173), the destroyer escort at the center of the Philadelphia Experiment claims, and may have played a support role or served as an observation platform during the supposed event. However, these claims are widely disputed and lack credible evidence. Official Navy records offer no support for the Zebu's involvement in any such experiment. The Zebu continued to operate as a merchant vessel for several years after World War II.

Despite the lack of verifiable information, the Zebu remains associated with the Philadelphia Experiment in popular culture, fueling speculation and conspiracy theories surrounding the alleged wartime event. Its name often appears in discussions relating to time travel, teleportation, and electromagnetic cloaking, typically within the context of fringe science and ufology. The ship ultimately met its demise sometime in the latter half of the 20th century; the exact circumstances of its sinking or decommissioning are not widely documented.