YFD-6 was built at the
Chicago Bridge and Iron Shipyard, in
Chicago,
Illinois in January 1943. She was
commissioned on 9 December 1943. From 24 to 26 June 1944, was dry-docked inside
YFD-6. In late December 1944, voyaged to
Trinidad where she took
YFD-6 in tow before continuing on to the
Panama Canal. On 26 June 1945,
YFD-6 was prepared transiting the
Panama Canal, circa 1945.
YFD-6's center section fully turned 90 degrees, floating on its side with the support of a thousand Navy pontoons installed atop the wing wall. This work, done by
Navy SeaBees, was necessary to allow the drydock section to fit through the canal's locks. , and guided and towed the dry dock through the canal. In AUgust 1946, the dry dock was re-designated as
AFDM-3. towed
AFDM-3 and steaming in company with , and , she reached
Pearl Harbor on 12 October 1946. In latter 1948,
AFDM-3 and arrived at the
Balboa yard to be prepared to transit the Panama Canal similarly to . Throughout 1950, The US Navy done heavy workload on
AFDM-3, USS AFDM-7 and . In 1986,
AFDM-3, and were all laid up in
Mobile,
Alabama. In 1999, the dry dock was leased to the Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Company. The
AFDM-6 was struck from the
Naval Register on 15 November 2000. == Awards ==