USS Pitkin

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
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-204 Code letters: NXNH
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	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	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

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.

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]

Coastal Competitor was used by several shipping companies from 1945 to 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]

Citations

• Photo gallery of USS Pitkin (AK-204) at NavSource Naval History