YFD-2 (Yard Floating Dock-2, USS ''YFD-2'') was an

auxiliary floating drydock An auxiliary floating drydock is a type of US Navy 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, ...

built for the

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 ...

in 1901. The first parts were

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

in early 1901 at Maryland Steel Co. of

Sparrows Point Sparrow's Point is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, adjacent to Dundalk. Named after Thomas Sparrow, landowner, it was the site of a very large industrial complex owned by Bethlehem Steel, known for steelm ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. YFD-2 was the first of its kind, steel movable auxiliary floating drydock, used to raise large ships out the water for repair below the ship's

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

. YFD-2 had a 18,000 tons lifting capacity.

New Orleans Navy Yard

YFD-2 was towed to her station in the Navy Yard near New Orleans at

Algiers, New Orleans Algiers is a historic neighborhood of New Orleans and is the only Orleans Parish community located on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Algiers is known as the 15th Ward, one of the 17 Wards of New Orleans. It was once home to many jazz m ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

on 6 November 1901. It took four steam

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s: the ''Orion'', ''Taurus'', ''Peerless'', and ''Volunteer'' to tow YFD-2 from Maryland to New Orleans. YFD-2 was a new state of the art machine for its time. USS ''Stranger'' with the

Louisiana governor The governor of Louisiana (french: Gouverneur de la Louisiane) is the head of state and head of government of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Louisiana's state government and is charged with enfor ...

, William Wright Heard and the New Orleans mayor,

Paul Capdevielle Paul Capdevielle (January 15, 1842 – August 14, 1922) was mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from May 9, 1900, to December 5, 1904. Biography Of French descent, he was educated at the Jesuit College of New Orleans, graduating in&n ...

where there to greet the arrival. A New Orleans parade was held to celebrate the arrival. The first

ship repaired was the 11,565-ton battleship , a

pre-dreadnought battleship Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protec ...

in January 1902. Next YFD-2 repaired the long transfer boat ''Carrier''. In 1903 she repaired the Norwegian cargo ship ''Telefon''. YFD-2 remained in New Orleans until towed to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

. The dock arrived in Pearl Harbor on 23 August 1940, before

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 opposing ...

. She departed New Orleans on 19 March 1940 after modification to make her sea worthy for the travel. To go through the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

she was taken apart at Cristóbal, Colón, the Canal was only wide at that time and the wide drydock would not pass. The sections were towed through the Canal and reassembled at

Balboa, Panama Balboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. History The town of Balboa, founded by the United States during the construction of the Panama Canal, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spani ...

Attack on Pearl Harbor

YFD-2 was repairing the destroyer on 7 December 1941 during the attack on the harbor. YFD-2 and ''Shaw'' were hit and damaged in the attack by Japanese dive bombers. ''Shaw'' also damaged YFD-2 with the explosion of her forward ammunition magazines stores. Both ships were repaired and put back in service. On 9 January 1942 YFD-2 had the water pumped out of her pontoon

tanks A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

and was raised for repair. When the repairs were completed she was put back in service in May 1942. The Pacific Bridge Company was give charge for the repairs of YFD-2.

Divers Diver or divers may refer to: *Diving (sport), the sport of performing acrobatics while jumping or falling into water *Practitioner of underwater diving, including: **scuba diving, **freediving, **surface-supplied diving, **saturation diving, a ...

had to repair more than 200 holes in YFD-2 to float her again. Repaired, the YFD-2 raised the USS ''Shaw'' for 10 days of repairs to install a new temporary bow so ''Shaw'' could return to the naval shipyard at

Mare Island Mare Island ( Spanish: ''Isla de la Yegua'') is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the ...

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to th ...

for final repairs. YFD-2 was used for salvaging and repairing many of ships damaged on 7 December 1941, as she could raise any ship here, other than the large new battleships. She continued repair work throughout World War II at Pearl Harbor. After the war YFD-2 was struck from the

Naval Register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...

on 28 January 1947. She was sold on 30 March 1948 for private use.USS ''Shaw''
/ref>

Image gallery

File:YardFloatingDock2.jpg, Yard Floating Dock-2 with battleship USS ''Illinois'', a pre-dreadnought battleship in January 1902 for repair Image:USS SHAW exploding Pearl Harbor Nara 80-G-16871 2.jpg, USS ''Shaw'' exploding after her forward magazine was detonated by the raging fire Image:USS Shaw Pearl Harbor-7Dec41.jpg, Wreckage of bombed YFD-2 and ''Shaw'' at Pearl Harbor File:USS Shaw (DD-373) in half-sunken YFD-2 at Pearl Harbor.jpg, USS ''Shaw'' in half-sunken YFD-2 at Pearl Harbor File:USS Shaw (DD-373) in sunken YFD-2 after Pearl Harbor attack.jpg, USS ''Shaw'' in sunken YFD-2 after Pearl Harbor attack.jpg

References

External links

* ttp://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0508.html The USS ''Shaw'' / Edgar Rice Burroughs Connection {{DEFAULTSORT:YFD-2 World War I auxiliary ships of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States 1901 ships Floating drydocks of the United States Navy

New Orleans Navy Yard

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Image gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links