Auxiliary floating drydock

USS Artisan (ABSD-1) with USS Antelope (IX-109) and LST-120 in the dock at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands, 8 January 1945
Los Alamos (AFDB-7), with a repaired submarine at Holy Loch, Scotland in 1985
YFD-2 The first Yard Floating Dock built in 1901, arriving Pearl Harbor 23 October 1940 from New Orleans Naval Yard
USS Pennsylvania in drydock USS Dewey, the second YFD, c. 1906–1907

An auxiliary floating drydock is a type of US Navy auxiliary floating dry dock. Floating dry docks are able to submerge underwater and to be placed under a ship in need of repair below the water line. Water is then pumped out of the floating dry dock, raising the ship out of the water. The ship becomes blocked on the deck of the floating dry dock for repair. Most floating dry docks have no engine and are towed by tugboats to their destinations. Floating dry docks come in different sizes to accommodate varying ship sizes, while large floating dry docks come in sections and can be combined to increase their size and lift power. Ballast pontoon tanks are flooded with water to submerge or pumped dry to raise the ship.[1][2]

  1. ^ The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia, Floating Dry Docks
  2. ^ 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