USS AFDM-2

{{Short description|Large auxiliary floating drydock of the US Navy}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image | image = AFDM3centersectionlaterYFD-6floatedPanamaCanal.jpg | image_caption = ''AFDM-1''-class floating drydock, on it side for Panama Canal passage }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career | hide_header = | country = United States | flag = {{USN flag|1945}} | name = ''YDS-4'' | namesake = | operator = Todd Shipyards at New Orleans | ordered = | awarded = | builder = Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company, Mobile | original_cost = $2,760,300 (1942) | yard_number = | way_number = | laid_down = January 1943 | launched = | sponsor = | christened = | completed = | acquired = | commissioned = 1 October 1943 | recommissioned = | decommissioned = | maiden_voyage = | in_service = | out_of_service = | renamed = | reclassified = AFDM-2, 1945 | refit = | struck = | reinstated = | homeport = | identification = | motto = | nickname = | honours = | honors = ''See Awards'' | captured = | fate = Sold to Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corp., 11 February 1999 | status = Operational in Port Arthur, Texas | notes = | badge = }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics | hide_header = | header_caption = | class = ''AFDM-1''-class floating drydock | displacement = {{convert|6,360|t|LT|0|abbr=on}} | length = {{convert|616|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} | beam = {{convert|116|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} | height = | draft = {{convert|6|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}, empty | depth = | hold_depth = | decks = | deck_clearance = | ramps = | ice_class = | power = | propulsion = | speed = | range = | endurance = | test_depth = | boats = | capacity = {{convert|9,000|t|LT|0|abbr=on}}, lift | troops = | complement = 4 officers, 146 enlisted | sensors = | EW = | armament = * 2 × Bofors 40 mm guns * 4 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons | armor = | aircraft = | aircraft_facilities = | notes = 2 × service cranes }} }} thumb|right|Sister ship {{USS|Richland|YFD-64|6}}

'''USS ''AFDM-2''''', (former '''''YFD-4'''''), is an {{sclass|AFDM-3|medium auxiliary floating drydock|0}} medium auxiliary floating drydock built in Mobile, Alabama by the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company for the U.S. Navy. Originally named '''USS ''YFD-4''''', Yard Floating Dock-4, she operated by Todd Shipyards at New Orleans, Louisiana for the repair of US ships during World War II. ''YFD-4'' was renamed an Auxiliary Floating Dock Medium ''AFDM-2'' in 1945 after the war.

== Design == ''AFDM-2'' was {{convert|37|ft|m|1}} tall, {{convert|116|ft|m|1}} wide, length of {{convert|614|ft|m|1}} (all three section connected), and has a displacement of 6,360 tons. AFDM-2 could lift capacity 9,000 tons and had two service cranes to lift material and parts for removing damage parts and the installation of new parts. The floating drydock can repair ships up to a beam of {{convert|90|ft|m|1}}, as she is 90 feet wide between the wing walls. Ballast pontoons tanks are flooded with water to submerge or pumped dry to raise the ship. Submerged she can load a ship with a draft up to {{convert|20|ft|m|1}}.<ref>[https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/28/2802.htm NavSource USS AFDM-2, ex USS YFD-4 (1943–1945)]</ref><ref name="shiphistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/smallships/auxafd.htm|title=Floating Dry-Docks (AFDB, AFDM, AFDL, ARD, ARDM, YFD)|date=30 April 2015|publisher=shipbuildinghistory.com|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref><ref>[http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/F/l/Floating_Dry_Docks.htm The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia, Floating Dry Docks]</ref><ref name="NavyBases">[https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-9.html Building the Navy's Bases in World War II, History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps 1940–1946 Chapter IX, Floating Drydocks]</ref><ref>USN AFDM-2 Floating Drydocks & Shipyards WWI & Beyond old films, a DVD, Jan 1, 2012, 95.00 minutes, Campbell Films</ref>

==History== It was built by Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company in Mobile, Alabama. she was laid down in January 1942 and commissioned on 1 October 1943, right after her delivery to the Navy.

Hurricane Betsy, Category 4, sank and damaged ''AFDM-2'' on 9 September 1965. USS ''AFDM-2'' was at Todd Shipyards on the west side of the Mississippi River in Algiers, New Orleans. ''AFDM-2'' had the water pumped out of her pontoon tanks and was raised for repair. The salvage ships MS ''Cable'' and {{USS|Curb|ARS-21|6}} and {{USS|Salinan|ATF-161|6}}, an ''Achomawi-class'' fleet ocean tug, helped in the recovery of ''AFDM-2''. Due to the large size of ''AFDM-2'' two rescue and salvage ships, {{USS|Salvager|ARS(D)-3|6}} and {{USS|Windlass|ARS(D)-4|6}} arrived with three special support barges to help in the salvage. Land-based winches were also used in the recovery. On 25 August 1966 tugs returned ''AFDM-2'' to Todd Shipyards, eleven months after her sinking. Repairs where completed and she was put back in service. Divers had to repair more than 100 holes in ''AFDM-2'' to float her again.<ref>[https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Portals/103/Documents/SUPSALV/SalvageReports/AFDM_2%20Tech%20Report%201965.pdf US Navy USS AFDM-2 (YFD-4)]</ref>

On 16 May 1995 she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, Texas. On 11 February 1999 she was reactivated and transferred to the Government of the Dominican Republic. She was later sold to Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corporation at Port Arthur, Texas and renamed ''Mr. Morris''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161219101848/https://www.marad.dot.gov/sh/ShipHistory/Detail/64 marad, AFDM-2]</ref> In 2013 {{USS|LST-325}}, a landing ship, tank, now a museum ship, was repaired in ''AFDM-2''.<ref>[https://usslst325.blogspot.com/2013/01/ USS LST-325 repaired in AFDM-2, January 31, 2013]</ref> On 17 December 2021, USS ''Orleck'' (DD-886) arrived in Port Arthur to be repaired in ''AFDM-2''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=American Press|date=2021-12-21|title=Orleck completes first phase of journey; undergoing cleaning, inspection|url=https://www.americanpress.com/2021/12/21/orleck-completes-first-phase-of-journey-undergoing-cleaning-inspection/|access-date=2022-01-17|website=American Press|language=en}}</ref>

== Awards ==

* American Campaign Medal * Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal * World War II Victory Medal

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sf_s5M22qcw/UPgkcdBnKjI/AAAAAAAABSg/vhb-SsWpa48/s1600/Dry+Dock+Cruise+2013+1st+Leg+052.JPG photo USS LST-325 a Landing Ship, Tank in AFDM-2 – Mr. Morris] * [https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9NkZvIVA_lA/UPglpY_-JrI/AAAAAAAABT8/UaQjUEWZug8/s1600/Dry+Dock+Cruise+2013+1st+Leg+091.JPG photo USS LST-325 high and dry in AFDM-2 – Mr. Morris] * [https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dl4BeZKlM5Y/UPgmky3j9tI/AAAAAAAABU8/bnjb_67ukKQ/s1600/Dry+Dock+Cruise+2013+1st+Leg+113.JPG photo USS LST-325 high and dry in AFDM-2 – Mr. Morris]

{{1965 shipwrecks}} {{DEFAULTSORT:AFDM-2, USS}} Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Category:Floating drydocks of the United States Navy Category:1943 ships