USS AFDB-2

USS ABSD-2, later redesignated as AFDB-2, was a ten-section, non-self-propelled, large auxiliary floating drydock of the US Navy. Advance Base Sectional Dock-2 (Auxiliary Floating Dock Big-2) was constructed in sections during 1942 and 1943 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California for World War II. Her official commissioning ceremony took place on 14 August 1943 with CDR. Joseph J. Rochefort in command. With all ten sections joined, she was 927 feet long, 28 feet tall (keel to welldeck), and with an inside clear width of 133 feet 7 inches. ABSD-2 had a traveling 15-ton capacity crane with an 85-foot radius and two or more support barges. The two side walls were folded down under tow to reduce wind resistance and lower the center of gravity. ABSD-2 had 6 capstans for pulling, each rated at at , 4 of the capstans were reversible. There were also 4 ballast compartments in each section.
World War II.
The ABSD-2 floating drydock departed 2 May 1944 and made the voyage across the Pacific Ocean in convoys. USS ABSD-2 sections arrived 22 June 1944 and then were reassembled at Espiritu Santo Naval Base, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), in the South Pacific Ocean. Once assembled on 13 September 1944 she was moved for operation at Seeadler Harbor (also called "Port Seeadler"), at Admiralty Islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea also called the "Manus Islands", after the largest island there. USS ABSD-2 sister ship USS "ABSD-4" also worked at Seeadler Harbor during the war. ABSD-2 repaired the large ships in the US Navy and United Kingdom's Royal Navy during World War II. Able to lift 90,000 tons ABSD-2 could raise large ships like, aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and large auxiliary ships, out of the water for repair below the ship's waterline. She was also used to repair multiple smaller ships at the same time. Ships in continuous use during war need repair both from wear and from war damage from naval mine and torpedoes. Rudders and propellers are best serviced on dry docks. Without ABSD-2 and her sister ships, at remote locations months could be lost in a ships returning to a home port for repair. ABSD-2 had provisions for the repair crew, such bunk beds, meals, and laundry. ABSD-2 had power stations, ballast pumps, repair shops, machine shops, and mess halls to be self-sustaining. ABSD-2 had two rail track moveable cranes able to lift tons of material and parts for removing damaged parts and install new parts.
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Some of the ships repaired:
USS ABSD-2 repaired the battleship USS "Mississippi" BB-41 on 12 October 1944. On 2 December 1944 the USS "Claxton" (DD-571) a entered ABSD-2 for repair of after a kamikaze attack that damaged her off Leyte on 1 November 1944. ABSD-2 repaired the USS "Canberra" (CA-70) a after an attack on 13 October 1944 from an aerial torpedo. ABSD-2 repaired USS "Killen" (DD-593) also a " Fletcher class" destroyer with kamikaze damage from an attack off Leyte on 1 November 1944. ABSD-2 reapied the USS "Sumter" (APA-52) a on 15 February 1945 for normal repairs. The "USS Trinity" (AO-13) a replenishment oiler was in her dry dock from 11 April 1945 to April 18 for normal repairs as she was in continuous use though the war.
AFDB-2 repaired the USS "Iowa" (BB-61) in 1945 before she returned to the States for refit. Due to the "Iowa" 37 ft 2 in (11.33 m) draft when full loaded, the battleships had to unload much of her ammunition and fuel oil before entering AFDB-2. The torpedo damaged USS "Houston" and USS "Reno" were both repaired at the same time on 8 Jan. 1945.
Attacked.
Near the end of the war on April 22, 1945 at 2pm a Mitsubishi A6M Zero two seater plane piloted by Shimbo and Ensign Chuhei Okubo in the second seat, overflew Seeadler Harbor at 14,000 feet. They saw what they thought were two "aircraft carriers", but were actually empty floating dry docks ABSD-2 and ABSD-4. On April 27, 1945 at 11:15pm a Nakajima B5N piloted by Takahashi dropped an aerial torpedo it hit one of the pontoons tanks in section G, damaging the dry dock. She was repaired and returned to service.
After the war ABSD-2 was decommissioned in January 1947
Post-war.
Five of ABSD-2 sections, A, B, C, E, F, G, and I were disposed of in various manners in 1990. At the time of this writing, three of her sections, D, F, and H, are still in service.