In 1947, she was transferred to the United States Maritime Commission and renamed Cape Girardeau.

The ship was built in 1944 as yard number 354 by Consolidated Steel Corporation Wilmington, California.

[4] Cape Girardeau was launched in January 1944, and completed that month as Empire Spearhead.

[2] She was built for the War Shipping Administration and chartered by the MoWT, who placed her under the management of Royal Mail Lines Ltd.

The Code Letters MYMR and United Kingdom Official Number 169773 were allocated.

[5] The ship also carried members of the 231st Infantry Brigade, 1st Battalion, Dorset Regiment.

[8] Force X sailed via New York and the Panama Canal, arriving at Suva, Fiji, where the convoy dispersed, in late September.

[7] In November 1944, Empire Spearhead took part in Exercise Octopus at Unity Beach, Queensland.