''HMS Empire Spearhead'' was a Type C1-S-AY-1 Infantry Landing Ship (LSI) chartered by the British

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

(MoWT) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was built by

Consolidated Steel Corporation Consolidated Steel Corporation (formed 18 December 1928) was an American steel and shipbuilding business. Consolidated built ships during World War II in two locations: Wilmington, California and Orange, Texas. It was created in 1929 by the merg ...

Wilmington, California Wilmington is a neighborhood in the Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, covering . Featuring a heavy concentration of industry and the third-largest oil field in the continental United States, this neighborhood has a high percentage of Lat ...

. She was launched as ''Cape Girardeau'' and completed as ''Empire Spearhead''. In 1945, she was transferred to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and was later renamed HMS ''Ormonde''. Later that year she was transferred back to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Spearhead''. In 1947, she was transferred to the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

and renamed ''Cape Girardeau''. The ship was laid up in 1950 and renamed ''Empire Spearhead''. She was scrapped in 1966.

Description

The ship was built in 1944 as yard number 354 by

. She was launched on 7 November 1944, and completed in January 1944. The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of . The ship had a GRT of 7,177 and a NRT of 4,823. The ship was propelled by two

steam turbines A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

, double reduction geared, driving a single screw propeller. The turbines were built by

Westinghouse Electric Company Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is an American nuclear power company formed in 1999 from the nuclear power division of the original Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It offers nuclear products and services to utilities internationally, includi ...

Essington, Pennsylvania Tinicum Township, more popularly known as "Tinicum Island" or "The Island", is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 4,091 at the 2010 census, down from 4,353 at the 2000 census. Included within the townships boundarie ...

History

''Cape Girardeau'' was launched in January 1944, and completed that month as ''Empire Spearhead''. She was built for the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

and chartered by the MoWT, who placed her under the management of Royal Mail Lines Ltd. The

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

MYMR and United Kingdom

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

169773 were allocated. She took part in

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

. A photographer from the ''

Daily Sketch The ''Daily Sketch'' was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton. It was bought in 1920 by Lord Rothermere's Daily Mirror Newspapers, but in 1925 Rothermere sold it to William and Gomer Berry ...

'' was on board to record the invasion flotilla. The ship also carried members of the 231st Infantry Brigade, 1st Battalion,

Dorset Regiment The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 1 ...

. The troops were landed on

Gold Beach Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was lo ...

. At the end of June 1944, ''Empire Spearhead'' was transferred to the

as HMS ''Empire Spearhead''. Empire Spearhead 081459

Following Overlord, ''Empire Spearhead'' was part of

Force X The Force X was a squadron of the French Navy, assembled on 29 April 1940, after the outbreak of the Second World War, to deter Italy from striking in the Levantine Sea. It was constituted of the old battleship ''Lorraine'', of the three modern hea ...

. This was a convoy consisting seven ships, , , , , , HMS ''Empire Spearhead'', and . The convoy sailed from

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

on 3 August as part of Convoy UC 31. Force X sailed via

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

, arriving at

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, where the convoy dispersed, in late September. In November 1944, ''Empire Spearhead'' took part in Exercise Octopus at Unity Beach,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. The exercise trained troops for amphibious landings. In March 1945, ''Empire Spearhead'' took part in

Operation Iceberg Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

. She departed

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

on 19 March and arrived at

Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the south of the bay is Mindanao Isl ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on 26 March. She was briefly renamed HMS ''Ormonde'' during her last months in the Royal Navy. In 1946, she was transferred back to the MoWT as ''Empire Spearhead''. She passed to the

in 1947 and was renamed ''Cape Girardeau'' A proposed sale in February 1948 to the

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and renaming to ''Hai Wei'' was not proceeded with as the ship was not paid for by China. In 1950, she was laid up on the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

and renamed ''Empire Spearhead''. She was sold for scrap on 17 March 1965 to The Boston Metals Co. ''Empire Spearhead'' was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet on 3 May. She arrived on 4 May at

Baltimore, Ohio Baltimore is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Fairfield County, Ohio, Fairfield County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,966 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Baltimore was originally called New Market, and ...

for scrapping. ''Empire Spearhead'' was scrapped in 1966.

References

External links

Drawing of a Type C1-S-AY-1 ship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Spearhead 1943 ships Ships built in Los Angeles Type C1-S ships World War II merchant ships of the United States Steamships of the United States Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Troop ships of the Royal Navy Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United States