USS Pitkin (AK-204)

USS Pitkin (AK-204) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. By the time she was scheduled for commissioning, the war’s end caused her to be declared “excess to needs” and she was returned to the US Government and struck by the Navy.

History
United States
Name:
  • Coastal Observer (1944–1945, 1945–)
  • Pitkin (1945)
Namesake: Pitkin County, Colorado
Ordered: as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2158[1]
Builder: Globe Shipbuilding Co., Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number: 125[1]
Laid down: date unknown
Launched: date unknown
Completed: 20 November 1945
Acquired: May 1945
Commissioned: returned to the US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) prior to commissioning
Stricken: date unknown
Identification:
Fate: returned to MARCOM, 20 November 1945
United States
Name: Coastal Observer
Owner: MARCOM
Operator:
  • Lykes Brothers Steamship Company, Inc. (1945–1946)
  • Mississippi Shipping Company (1949)
Acquired: 20 November 1945
In service: 20 November 1945
Out of service: 11 July 1949
Fate: sent to reserve fleet
Status: sold, 13 July 1956
Brazil
Name: Rio Mossoró
Operator: Companhia Nacional de Navegacao Costerira, Patrimonio Nacional
Acquired: 13 July 1956
In service: 15 February 1957
Renamed: Guararapes in 1971
Fate: Broken up at Recife in 1984
General characteristics [2]
Class and type: Alamosa-class cargo ship
Type: C1-M-AV1
Tonnage: 5,032 long tons deadweight (DWT)[1]
Displacement:
  • 2,382 long tons (2,420 t) (standard)
  • 7,450 long tons (7,570 t) (full load)
Length: 388 ft 8 in (118.47 m)
Beam: 50 ft (15 m)
Draft: 21 ft 1 in (6.43 m)
Installed power:
Propulsion: 1 × propeller
Speed: 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity:
  • 3,945 t (3,883 long tons) DWT
  • 9,830 cu ft (278 m3) (refrigerated)
  • 227,730 cu ft (6,449 m3) (non-refrigerated)
Complement:
  • 15 Officers
  • 70 Enlisted
Armament:

Construction

Pitkin was laid down under US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2158, by Globe Shipbuilding Co., Superior, Wisconsin. She was transferred to the Navy in May 1945. Pitkin was scheduled for commissioning. However, because of the Allied victory in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations, her commissioning was cancelled. Pitkin was ordered returned to MARCOM for disposal. Her name subsequently reverted to Coastal Observer.[2]

Merchant service

Coastal Competitor was used by several shipping companies from 1945–1948, when she was placed in the reserve fleet.[2]

On 13 July 1956, she was sold to Companhia Nacional de Navegacao Costerira, Patrimonio Nacional, of Brazil, for $693,682, under the condition that she be used for coastal shipping. She was delivered on 2 February 1957.[3] She was broken up at Recife in 1984.[4]

Notes
    Citations
    1. C1 Cargo Ships 2009.
    2. Navsource 2011.
    3. MARAD.
    4. "GUARARAPES (5296252)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 16 February 2020.

    Bibliography

    Online resources

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