S.S. Cape Girardeau: an ocean-going ship named for an inland cape

In the 1944 movie "Double Indemnity", Fred MacMurray said, "They say all native Californians come from Iowa."

That line could just as easily have been about Missouri. Cape Girardeau, in particular, was the hometown for a large contingent of people who moved west to Southern California. They hoped to take advantage of a booming economy and a climate with pleasant weather that lasts for more than two weeks out of the year.

Mrs. Erna Thilenius Bergland was part of this diaspora. In 1943 she worked as an accountant for the Consolidated Steel Corp. shipyard at Wilmington, California, near Los Angeles.

This is the cover of the program that was handed out to attendees of the launching ceremony for the S.S. Cape Girardeau.Submitted photo

She pitched a wild idea to her boss: How about naming a future ship after her hometown? Lloyd Earl, vice president of the company, loved the idea. He was amused by the novelty of naming an ocean-going vessel after an inland cape. The company was able to successfully petition the U.S. Maritime Commission to add the name to their list of upcoming ships.

In August 1943, the keel was laid on what would become the S.S. Cape Girardeau, a C-1 cargo and passenger vessel with a length of 396 feet.

A launching ceremony was scheduled for Nov. 7 with Bergland appointed the matron of honor. Back in Cape Girardeau, city leaders were enthusiastic about the name, but they sent their regrets at not being able to attend the ceremony in person.

However, the Chamber of Commerce was able to provide a list of former Cape Girardeans who had moved to the Los Angeles area. Bergland arranged for invitations to be sent to many of them.

It was quite a party. An Associated Press dispatch reported 25,000 people were in attendance, mostly shipyard workers. The list of speakers included Col. William B. Wilson of the Army Medical Corps, a Cape Girardeau native.

One attendee wrote in a letter to friends in Missouri, "When they let it slip off into the water, something came into my throat, and I felt all prickly up and down my back."

The Southeast Missourian was able to take advantage of the Associated Press "wirephoto" service to publish a photo of the launching in the next day's edition. This quick turnaround was a big deal in 1943.

Despite the festivities, the Cape Girardeau name didn't stick very long. The ship was transferred to British authorities under the World War II lend-lease program in January 1944 and renamed to S.S. Empire Spearhead.

That summer, the ship participated in Operation Overlord -- better known as D-Day -- where it was used to land soldiers on Gold Beach in Normandy. The following year, the Empire Spearhead saw action in Operation Iceberg, or the Battle of Okinawa.

After the war, the ship was returned to U.S. control and renamed the S.S. Cape Girardeau. In 1948, a deal to sell the vessel to China fell through. By 1950 the ship's name had reverted to S.S. Empire Spearhead. It was finally scrapped in 1966.