In 1943, the new drydock was towed to the southwestern Pacific in two convoys. The pair of sections constructed on the Gulf Coast left
Morgan City, Louisiana, on 14 July 1943. The eight sections built in Washington and California were towed to
San Francisco, California, before putting to sea on 28 August 1943. The first two sections arrived at
Espiritu Santo in the
New Hebrides on 24 September; the West Coast sections on 2 October. Later that month, the crew began to assemble the ship. Thirteen sailors drowned on 2 November when one of its sections sank. By the end of 1943, she was a working drydock of eight sections repairing a variety of Navy ships at
Naval Advance Base Espiritu Santo. In April 1944, ABSD-1 became a full ten-section drydock when her remaining section was combined with another from
ABSD-2 and was joined to the eight already functioning. She served in the New Hebrides until mid-April 1945, when she received orders to move forward to the big base,
Leyte-Samar Naval Base, at
Leyte Gulf in the
Philippines. ABSD-1 was disassembled for towing by the beginning of June and, on 30 June, the first six sections began the voyage, via
Hollandia,
New Guinea, to Leyte. The remaining four sections left on 7 July. The first group arrived at
Manicani Island in
Leyte Gulf, on 27 July, and assembly began three days later. On 2 August, the rest of the drydock entered Manicani Bay and, by mid-September, all ten sections had been rejoined. The floating drydock resumed repair work soon thereafter, and it continued through February 1946. On 28 February 1946, she undocked four-yard craft and began preparations for inactivation. ABSD-1 was
decommissioned on 31 May 1946. A sister drydock,
USS ABSD-5, also repaired ships at Manicani Island from May 1945 to May 1946. ==Post-war service==