USS Pemiscot

USS Pemiscot (AK-201) 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 Competitor (1944–1945, 1945–) Pemiscot (1945)
Namesake	Pemiscot County, Missouri
Ordered	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2155[1]
Builder	Globe Shipbuilding Co., Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number	122[1]
Laid down	7 July 1944
Launched	18 November 1944
Acquired	12 September 1945
Commissioned	scheduled, 12 September 1945, delayed
Stricken	5 December 1945
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-201 Code letters: NXMR
Fate	Returned to US Maritime Commission (MARCOM), 28 September 1945
History
United States
Name	Coastal Competitor
Owner	MARCOM
Operator	American Liberty Steamship Corp. (1945) United Fruit Company (1946) American West African Line, Inc. (1946) Lykes Bros. SS Company, Inc. (1946–) Atlantic Steamship Line (1948)
Acquired	31 October 1945
In service	31 October 1945
Out of service	3 May 1948
Fate	Sold, 13 July 1956
History
Brazil
Name	Coastal Competitor
Operator	Companhia Nacional de Navegacao Costerira, Patrimonio Nacional
Acquired	13 July 1956
In service	25 December 1956
Fate	Scrapped 1975
General characteristics [2]
Class & 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

Construction

Pemiscot was laid down under US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2155, by Globe Shipbuilding Co., Superior, Wisconsin, 7 July 1944; launched 18 November 1944; and transferred down the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana, between January and April 1945. Completed at the Pendleton Shipyard Co., she was transferred to the Navy 12 September 1945 at New Orleans.^[3]

Service history

Pemiscot was scheduled to commission 12 September. However, because of the Allied victory in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations, her commissioning was delayed.^[3]

Inactivation

On 28 September she was ordered returned to the U.S. Maritime Commission, and was delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) at New Orleans 31 October. Her name was struck from the Naval Register 5 December 1945. She was subsequently renamed Coastal Competitor.^[3]

Merchant service

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 25 December 1956.^[4] The ship was scrapped in 1975.