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.

Pipestone was laid down under US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2157, by Globe Shipbuilding Co., Superior, Wisconsin.

[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] She was operated by Corperacion Peruana e Vapores, Callao, Peru, and renamed Putumayo.