SS Leopoldville

In The Girl in the Glass, the SS Valencia’s name is changed to the SS Leopoldville, the change to a Belgian registry an effort to blend in better with the stolen Liberty Ship’s new destination, Europe.

The actual SS Leopoldville was built in 1928, the fifth ship to bear the name, and was used by Belgium’s Compagnie Maritime Belge as a passenger ship serving the route between Belgium and its African colony, the Belgian Congo.

During World War II, the vessel was modified into a troop carrier. On Christmas Eve, 1944, the Belgian troopship was carrying American soldiers when it was torpedoed by Germany near Cherbourg, France. A poorly managed evacuation, compounded by a language barrier and the ship's rapid sinking, resulted in the deaths of 763 American soldiers. The incident and its details were initially classified, with survivors ordered to remain silent for decades.

SS Leopoldville