USS Lancaster (AK-193) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed by the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. She was declared excess-to-needs and returned to the US Maritime Commission shortly after commissioning.

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History
United States
Name	Coastal Ringleader (1944–1945) Lancaster (1945)
Namesake	Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Ordered	as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2124[1]
Builder	Walter Butler Shipbuilders Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number	42[1]
Laid down	1 July 1944
Launched	15 December 1944
Acquired	21 September 1945
Commissioned	21 September 1945
Decommissioned	23 November 1945
Stricken	date unknown
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-193 Code letters: NEOE
Fate	Returned to Maritime Commission, 23 November 1945
United States
Name	Coastal Ringleader
Owner	Maritime Commission
Operator	Polarus SS Company (1945) New York and Puerto Rico SS Company (1946) United Fruit Company (1948)
Acquired	23 November 1945
In service	23 November 1945
Out of service	25 May 1948
Fate	Sold, 13 July 1956
Brazil
Name	Coastal Ringleader
Operator	Companhia Nacional de Navegacao Costerira, Patrimonio Nacional
Acquired	13 July 1956
In service	2 October 1956
Fate	Hulked 1975, deleted 1992
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

The fourth ship to be so named by the Navy, Lancaster was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 2124, 1 July 1944, by Walter Butler Shipbuilding Inc., Superior, Wisconsin; launched the same year; acquired by the Navy 21 September 1945; and commissioned the same day.^[3]

The end of World War II reduced the need for cargo ships, and Lancaster decommissioned 23 November 19, she was returned to the War Shipping Administration the same day with her name reverting to Coastal Ringleader.^[3]

Coastal Ringleader 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 October 1956.^[4]