The nameplate from a Liberty ship which reads "S.S. Lillian Nordica Built for U.S. Maritime Commission, Hull No. 3010, by New England Shipping Corp. South Portland, Maine, March 1944." This was presented to the Nordica Memorial Association in 1962 when the ship was withdrawn from service.

The S.S. Lillian Nordica was named after opera singer Lillian Nordica, born in Farmington as Lillan Norton, who became one of the first native Americans to achieve worldwide operatic renown. It was launched on March 17, 1944 from the ways of the New England Shipbuilding Corporation at South Portland. An image of the ship is MMN #17293.