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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

AFDB-1 Artisan ex ABSD-1
(Sections, A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,K)
IX-521 / IX-522


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Yankee - Romeo - Bravo
 NYRB
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
ABSD/AFDB-1 Class Large Auxiliary (10-section, non-self-propelled) Floating Dry Dock:
  • Constructed in sections during 1942 and 1943 at Everett Shipbuilding Co., Everett, WA., the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Eureka, CA., the Pollack-Stockton Shipbuilding Co., Stockton, CA.., and Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Morgan City, LA.
  • Commissioned, USS ABSD-1, 10 May 1943, at Everett, WA.
  • During World War II ABSD-1 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • ABSD-1 was towed to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides and assembled for service in World War II
  • Disassembled and towed to Manicani Bay, P.I. and reassembled for service by September 1945
  • Decommissioned on 31 May 1946, in the Philippines
  • Redesigned AFDB-1 in August 1946
  • Disassembled and towed to Pearl Harbor for lay up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • Recommissioned, 2 June 1951, at Pearl Harbor, HI.
  • Towed by sections to Orote, Guam, Marianas Islands, reassembled and ready for duty in March 1952
  • Decommissioned in January 1955, at Apra, Guam
  • Five sections towed to Subic Bay, P.I. reassembled and place in service 17 November 1970
  • Named Artisan, 7 June 1979
  • Placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register in October 1986
  • Reinstated in the Naval Register in March 1987
  • Final/Current Disposition
    Specifications:
    Displacement 38,500 t.(lt) (10 sections)
    Length 927' (10 sections)
    Beam 256'
    Draft 9' (light), 78' (flooded)
    Height 28' (keel to welldeck)
    Inside Width 133' 7"
    Lifting Capacity 90,000 tons
    Complement 690

    Specifications: IX-521 and IX-525
    Displacement 3,500 t.
    Length 280'
    Beam 80'
    Draft 9' (light)
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source/ Contributed
    By
    LST-120/Antelope 150k ABSD-1 with Antelope (IX-109) and LST-120 in the dock at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands, 8 January 1945
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-314233, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.     		US Naval Historical Center
    ABSD-1 88k ABSD-1 with California (BB-44) in the dock, at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands, (date unknown).
    US Navy photo from DANFS    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Antelope 72k Antelope (IX-109) entering ABSD-1 at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands, 5 January 1945.
    US Navy photo # NH 97018 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center     		US Naval Historical Center
    LSM-57/218 75k USS ABSD-1 with, front, left to right LSM-57 and LSM-218 and at the rear, left to right, LSM-269 and LSM-219, 17 November 1944.
    US Navy photo     		Bill Brinkley and the USS LSM/LSMR Association
    AFDB-1 133k ABSD-1 with West Virginia (BB-48) high and dry in the dock, off Aessi Island, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 13 November 1944. The battleship was docked for upkeep and repair to propellers damaged when she touched ground off Leyte on 21 October.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-314220, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    AFDB-1 67k AFDB-1 at Orote, Guam, Marainas Islands, with Wisconsin (BB-64) in her dock, circa April 1952
    US Navy photo from DANFS    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    View the ABSD-1 / Artisan (AFDB-1)
    DANFS history entry located at Navsource
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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