ABSD-2
| Country | United States |
| Displacement | 38,500 tons standard |
| Length | 927 feet |
| Beam | 256 feet |
| Draft | 9 feet |
| Crew | 690 |
| Lifting Capacity | 90,000 tons |
| Inside Width | 133 feet 7 inches |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseFloating drydock USS ABSD-2 was a non-powered naval vessel designed to be able to deployed, with relative speed, to combat zones for ship repair operations, thus saving the time necessary to transport a damaged ship back to the continental United States. She was built in ten separate sections in United States between 1943 and 1944 by various shipyards in the United States, including the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California, United States. Joseph Rochefort was the chief equipping officer of ABSD-2; although originally slated to command the floating drydock after commissioning, Rochefort would later be transferred elsewhere in the US Navy. Upon commissioning, USS ABSD-2 departed for Manus, Admiralty Islands in sections, under tow, in May 1944, and by Sep 1944 they were assembled and were ready for operation. After the war, she was redesignated AFDB-2 in Aug 1946. Five of her 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, F, D, and H, are still in service.
ww2dbaseSources:
Elliot Carlson, Joe Rochefort's War
NavSource.org
Last Major Revision: Oct 2012
ABSD-2 Interactive Map
ABSD-2 Operational Timeline
| 2 May 1944 | Floating drydock USS ABSD-2 departed California, United States in 10 separate sections. |
| 22 Jun 1944 | Floating drydock USS ABSD-2, in 10 separate sections, arrived at Manus, Admiralty Islands. |
| 13 Sep 1944 | The 10 separate sections of floating drydock USS ABSD-2 were assembled, and the floating drydock became operational for ship repair work at Manus, Admiralty Islands. |
| 13 Jul 1990 | Sections A and G of floating drydock ABSD-2 were sold for scrapping, sections E and I were sold for reuse or conversion, and sections B, C, and J were disposed of. |
| 19 Jul 1990 | Section F of floating drydock ABSD-2 was redesignated IX-524. |
| 16 Aug 1996 | Section D of floating drydock ABSD-2 was redesignated IX-522. |
| 10 Oct 2002 | Section H of floating drydock ABSD-2 was redesignated IX-535. |
Photographs
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Visitor Submitted Comments
5 Jul 2020 01:32:55 PM
I am working on a book about theABSDs. Do you have contacts for family members of the C.O., such as CDR Andrew Mack, and Captain Joe Rochefort. I live in Portland, and can see section 1-D still afloat in Swan Island lagoon. Vigor shipbuilding still uses four sections of AFDB-1.Cheers, J.
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, at Guadalcanal
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21 Dec 2016 12:12:17 PM
SOMETIME DURING 1944 THS USS ABSD 2 WAS TORPEDOED BY THE JAPANESE NO MAJOR DAMAGE AND SHE SELF REPAIRED.