In May 1945 ABSD-5 started repairing ships in the
Asiatic-Pacific Theater of war. ABSD-5 departed
New Orleans,
Louisiana on 18 November 1944, arriving at the
Panama Canal on 29 November 1944. One section was towed with
War Shipping Administration's ocean tugboat
St. Simon and another section was towed by . After crossing the
Pacific Ocean in convoys the nine sections arrived in Leyte on 24 February 1945, with assembly completed in May 1945.
Naval Construction Battalion Detachment 1055 and 1053 assembled ABSD-5. ABSD-5 was stationed at
Leyte-Samar Naval Base's
Manicani Island, a small island in
Leyte Gulf of the
Philippines, near
Guiuan,
Samar. ABSD-5 repaired the large ships in the US Navy and
United Kingdom's
Royal Navy. Able to lift 90,000 tons, ABSD-5 could raise large ships, like
aircraft carriers,
battleships,
cruisers, and large auxiliary ships, out of the water for repair below the ship's
waterline. She was also used to repair multiple smaller ships at the same time. Ships in continuous use during war need
repair both from wear and from war damage from
naval mine and
torpedoes.
Rudders and
propellers are best serviced on dry docks. Without ABSD-5 and her
sister ships, at remote locations months could be lost in a ships returning to a home port for repair. ABSD-5 had provisions for the repair crew, such as bunk beds, meals, and laundry. ABSD-4 had
power stations,
ballast pumps,
repair shops,
machine shops, and
mess halls to be
self-sustaining. ABSD-2 had two rail track moveable
cranes able to lift tons of material and parts for removing damage parts and install new parts. , a repaired in August 1945 is one of the many ships repaired in ABSD-5. was repaired in ABSD-5. Due to the ''Mississippi's'' 30 ft (9.1 m) draft with a full load, the battleship had to unload much of her
ammunition and
fuel oil before entering AFDB-5. , a was repaired in August 1945. The cargo ship was repaired in November 1945. repaired April 1945. On 15 October 1945 entered AFDB-5 for repairs. For the crew to live in the Navy had
barracks ships called APL, that dock next to AFDB-5. In September 1945 , which had been operating at
Espiritu Santo's
Espiritu Santo Naval Base in the
New Hebrides, started repairing ships at
Manicani Island with ABSD-5. The sections of USS
Artisan (ABSD-1) had started arriving at Manicani Island in July 1945. ==Post-war==