USS Artisan ( AFDB - 1 ) USS " Artisan " ( ABSD - 1 ) , a ten - section , non - self - propelled , large auxiliary floating drydock , was the only ship of the United States Navy given this name . She was constructed in sections during 1942 and 1943 by the Everett Shipbuilding Company , in Everett , Washington ; the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company , in Eureka , California ; the Pollack - Stockton Shipbuilding Company , in Stockton , California ; and the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company , in Morgan City , Louisiana . Her official commissioning ceremony took place at Everett , Washington , on 10 May 1943 , Captain Andrew R . Mack in command . War service . The floating drydock made the voyage to the southwestern Pacific in two separate convoys . The two sections constructed on the Gulf Coast departed Morgan City , Louisiana , on 14 July 1943 , while the remaining eight sections concentrated at 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 , and the West Coast sections reached that destination on 2 October . Later that month , the drydock ' s crew began assembly procedures . On 2 November in the course of assembling the drydock , one of its sections sank , drowning 13 of her crew . By the end of 1943 , she was a working drydock of eight sections repairing a variety of Navy ships at 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 . With all ten sections joined , she was 927 feet long , 28 feet tall ( keel to welldeck ) , and with an inside clear width of 133 feet 7 inches . She served in the New Hebrides until mid - April 1945 at which time she received orders to disassemble and move forward to the big base at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines . ABSD - 1 completed disassembly 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 took departure on 7 July . The first echelon arrived at Manicani Bay , Samar Island , 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 joined together . The floating drydock resumed her 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 . Post - war service . She remained in the Philippines through the summer and fall of 1946 . During that time , in August 1946 , the advanced base sectional dock was reclassified a large auxiliary floating drydock and was redesignated AFDB - 1 . Sometime after November 1946 , her sections were towed from the Philippines to Pearl Harbor where they were placed in reserve . Her inactivity lasted almost exactly five years . She was recommissioned at Pearl Harbor on 2 June 1951 , Captain O . J . Stien , USNR , in command . Later that month , she was towed , in sections , to Guam in the Mariana Islands where the Navy was improving another repair facility in fairly close proximity to the combat zone in the year - old Korean War . Reporting for duty on 26 June 1951 , she was not completely assembled and ready for duty until the beginning of March 1952 . Active at Apra Harbor not quite three years , AFBD - 1 was out of commission again and back in reserve by January 1955 . She remained inactive at Guam for a little more than 15 years . In 1970 , five of her sections were moved to Subic Bay in the Philippines where the floating drydock was placed in service once again on 17 November 1970 . Her third period of active service proved to be her longest lasting almost 16 years . On 7 June 1979 , she was named " Artisan " . In October 1986 , " Artisan " was placed out of service , and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register . In March 1987 , however , " Artisan " received a reprieve when her name was reinstated on the Naval Vessel Register . On 16 August 1996 her Section 1D was reclassified as unclassified miscellaneous vessel IX - 521 , and on 2 March 1998 her Section 1C was reclassified to IX - 525 .