It was built by
Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company in
Mobile,
Alabama. she was
laid down in January 1942 and
commissioned on 1 October 1943, right after her delivery to the Navy.
Hurricane Betsy,
Category 4, sank and damaged
AFDM-2 on 9 September 1965. USS
AFDM-2 was at Todd Shipyards on the west side of the
Mississippi River in
Algiers, New Orleans.
AFDM-2 had the water pumped out of her pontoon tanks and was raised for repair. The
salvage ships MS
Cable and and , an
Achomawi-class fleet ocean tug, helped in the recovery of
AFDM-2. Due to the large size of
AFDM-2 two
rescue and salvage ships, and arrived with three special support
barges to help in the salvage. Land-based
winches were also used in the recovery. On 25 August 1966 tugs returned
AFDM-2 to Todd Shipyards, eleven months after her sinking. Repairs where completed and she was put back in service.
Divers had to repair more than 100 holes in
AFDM-2 to float her again. On 16 May 1995 she was laid up in the
National Defense Reserve Fleet,
Beaumont, Texas. On 11 February 1999 she was reactivated and transferred to the Government of the
Dominican Republic. She was later sold to Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corporation at
Port Arthur, Texas and renamed
Mr. Morris. In 2013 , a
landing ship, tank, now a
museum ship, was repaired in
AFDM-2. On 17 December 2021,
USS Orleck (DD-886) arrived in Port Arthur to be repaired in
AFDM-2. == Awards ==