''Shippingport'' (ARDM-4) is an

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Medium Auxiliary Repair Dry Dock. She is one of the Navy's two medium auxiliary repair dry docks, and was the first floating dry dock built for the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.Shippingport (ARDM 4)
NavySite.de Laid down in 1977, delivered and placed in service on 4 January 1979, she is still in service at the Naval Submarine Support Facility at

Naval Submarine Base New London Naval Submarine Base New London is the primary United States Navy East Coast submarine base, also known as the "Home of the Submarine Force." It is located in Groton, Connecticut directly across the Thames River from its namesake city of New Lon ...

, in

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...

. With a displacement of 5400 tons, this floating dry dock had a lifting capacity of 7800 tons. ''Shippingport'' has two 25 ton portal gantry cranes on tracks, one running along the top deck of each hull side

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

. She is a government owned, private contractor operated, restored and certified drydock used to execute submarine repairs.Operational Drydock Capabilities Return to SUBASE New London
Navy News Service, September 13, 2012 In October 2010, while ''Shippingport'' (ARDM-4) was nearing the end of her overhaul at

BAE Systems Ship Repair BAE Systems Platforms & Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems Inc. and is a large provider of tracked and wheeled armored combat vehicles, naval guns, naval ship repair and modernization, artillery and missile launching systems, ad ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, the U.S. Department of Defense ( DoD) announced that

General Dynamics Electric Boat General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for more than 100 years. The company's main facilities are a shipyard in Groton, Co ...

was awarded an additional $6.5 million to its contract for ship forces duties during ''Shippingports naval service craft overhaul (SCO) and recertification. In September 2012, after being out of service for almost four years, ''Shippingport'' completed her SCO and year-long recertification. The SCO included structural modifications to enable a lifting capacity to support a ''Virginia''-class (

SSN SSN may refer to: Broadcasting *Setanta Sports News, a former 24-hour sports news network in the United Kingdom * Sky Sports News, a 24-hour sports news network in the United Kingdom * Soul of the South Network, an African-American oriented TV Netw ...

) nuclear attack submarine. In November 2013, General Dynamics Electric Boat announced it was awarded an additional $7.1 million contract by

Naval Sea Systems Command The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is the largest of the United States Navy's five "systems commands," or materiel (not to be confused with "material") organizations. From a physical perspective, NAVSEA has four shipyards for shipbuilding, c ...

(NAVSEA) for further repairs and preservation of floating dry dock ''Shippingport'' (ARDM-4), with the work to be completed by September 2014.Electric Boat gets $7.1 million for ARDM-4 work
Marine Log, November 7, 2013

References

* ttps://www.navysite.de/ardm/ardm4.htm NavySite.de: General Characteristics and Image Gallery - Shippingport (ARDM-4) {{DEFAULTSORT:Shippingport 1977 ships Ships built in Sparrows Point, Maryland ARD-12-class floating drydocks Floating drydocks of the United States Navy