#TBT: Let’s set the stage. The year is 1944. Bread is only 10 cents, Bing Crosby tunes are a buzzin’, the St. Louis Cardinals are World Series champs –– and of course –– the United States is in the midst of WWII.

During this time, the US employed many ways to serve their allies, including Liberty ships –– cargo ships that were intentionally built to withstand German submarine attacks. These ships, however, weren’t exactly ship-shape in terms of speed + size, so larger, faster boats called Victory ships soon replaced their “ugly duckling” predecessors.

A whopping 531 Victory ships were mass-produced in shipyards across the US. One of these included a metal titan, constructed in 1945 at the Permanente Metals Corporation Shipyard Number Two in Richmond, California named the SS Lakeland Victory.

Picture of the SS Lakeland Victory | Photo via the Lakeland Public Library

According to the Maritime Administration, the SS Lakeland Victory looked like this:

It was 436.5 ft. in length
It had a 62 ft. beam
And it had an accumulative weight of 7,607 tons

But, how did a ship built in California get named after a landlocked city in Central Florida?

While not much is known on the naming origin, what we do know is that the ship is named after the City of Lakeland and the sponsors of the ship were Dr. Douglas + Mrs. Douglas Deeds of Denver, Colorado.

Photo of the launching day of the SS Lakeland Victory | Photo via the Lakeland Public Library

After the ship’s completion, Mrs. Deeds chose to christen the SS Lakeland Victory by breaking a bottle of champagne across the bow + Dr. Deeds acted as the “triggerman” (pushing the lever to release the ship). Additionally, during the program, Navy chaplain James Beamer gave an invocation.

While an original assignment for the ship was to remove American citizens from China in 1949, the Lakeland Victory never did actually sea service during WWII + met its ultimate fate as scrap metal after the conclusion of the war.

For 75 years, the mystery of how the SS Lakeland Victory got its name, has remained unsolved...though it definitely sits in good company with other unknown Lakeland quirks –– like Rome City + UFOs.

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