USS Pipestone (AK-203) 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.

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History
United States
Name	Coastal Explorer (1944–1945, 1945–) Pipestone (1945)
Namesake	Pipestone County, Minnesota
Ordered	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2157[1]
Builder	Globe Shipbuilding Co., Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number	124[1]
Launched	6 March 1945
Completed	23 November 1945
Acquired	April 1945
Commissioned	Returned to the US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) prior to commissioning
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-203
Fate	Returned to MARCOM, 23 November 1945
United States
Name	Coastal Explorer
Owner	MARCOM
Operator	Grace Line, Inc. (1945) T. J. Stevenson & Company, Inc. (1946)
Acquired	23 November 1945
In service	23 November 1945
Out of service	13 March 1946
Fate	Sold, 20 February 1947
Peru
Name	Putumayo
Namesake	Putumayo Province
Operator	Corperacion Peruana e Vapores, Callao, Peru
Acquired	20 February 1947
Fate	Sold, 1968
Peru
Name	Felipe
Operator	Naviera Panamar S.A., Callao, Peru
Acquired	1968
Fate	Sold
Panama
Name	Felipe
Operator	Gold Shipping S.A., Panama
Fate	Scrapped, 1974
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	1 × Nordberg, TSM 6 diesel engine 1,750 shp (1,300 kW)
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	1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber dual purpose gun (DP) 6 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons

Close

Pipestone was laid down under US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2157, by Globe Shipbuilding Co., Superior, Wisconsin. She was transferred to the Navy in April 1945. Pipestone was scheduled for commissioning. However, because of the Allied victory in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations, her commissioning was delayed.^[2]

Pipestone was ordered returned to MARCOM for disposal. Her name subsequently reverted to Coastal Explorer.^[3]

Coastal Explorer was used by a couple of shipping companies from 1945–1946, before being sold to the government of the Republic of Peru for $693,862.^[3]

On 20 February 1947, she was sold to the Peru.^[3] She was operated by Corperacion Peruana e Vapores, Callao, Peru, and renamed Putumayo. In 1968 she was sold to Naviera Panamar S.A., also of Callao, and renamed Felipe.^[2]

She was eventually sold to Gold Shipping S.A., Panama, and finally sold for scrapping to Spanish shipbreakers in 1974.^[2]