ABSD-2

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

Photographs

USS ABSD-2 at Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands, Apr-May 1945. Note the Liberty-class ship and seaplane tender in the dock. This shows almost the same angle of approach during the torpedo attack on the drydock on 29 Apr 1945.

USS ABSD-2 with USS Mississippi in the dock, Manus, Admiralty Islands, 12 Oct 1944

Torpedo damage to the hull of cruiser USS Honolulu after being torpedoed in Leyte Gulf on 20 Oct 1944. This photo was taken in floating drydock ABSD-2 at Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands on 30 Oct 1944.

Destroyer Claxton, heavy cruiser Canberra, and destroyer Killen being repaired in floating drydock USS ABSD-2, Manus, Admiralty Islands, 2 Dec 1944

See all 13 photographs of ABSD-2

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.
30 Oct 1944	USS Honolulu entered floating drydock ABSD-2 at Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands.
22 Apr 1945	A Japanese reconnaissance flight over Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands reported two US aircraft carriers anchored in the harbor. The ships were actually floating drydocks USS ABSD-2 and ABSD-4.
29 Apr 1945	[incorrectly given as 27 Apr 1945 by some sources] Acting on a reconnaissance report stating two US aircraft carriers were in Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands, the Japanese executed an aerial torpedo attack consisting of two (some sources 3) Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” bombers. The targets were actually floating drydocks USS ABSD-2 and ABSD-4 and each was struck with one torpedo, causing minimal damage to the docks. USS ABSD-4 had three ships in dock at the time, including a seaplane tender that was docked for emergency repairs and thus had not offloaded her ammunition. None of the ships in dock were damaged in the attack and all were returned to service.
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.

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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. AL "SNO" SCHNOEBELEN says:
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.

2. J. Wandres says:
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.

3. A. Demus says:
24 Mar 2023 07:47:22 AM

Hi, I saw whole ABSD-3 in Rijeka, Croatia. She is still operating. In Victor Lenac Yard. Greets A.

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