USS Alpaco was a cargo ship that served in the United States Navy from November to December 1918. SS Alpaco was built in 1918 as a wooden-hulled commercial cargo ship by the Hodge Shipbuilding Company at Moss Point, Mississippi, for the United States Shipping Board. Upon completion, she was transferred to the U.S. Navy, which took possession of her on 18 November 1918 and commissioned her the same day as USS Alpaco at the Navy Yard Dock in New Orleans, Louisiana, with Lieutenant Commander Nils A. Nelson, USNRF, in command. She was never given a naval registry identification number, but was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service and earmarked for coastwise service.