Los Alamos
AFDB-7
1961
with
George Washington (SSBN-598)
(Mountford Models MM-285P)
- Class: AFBD - Large auxiliary floating dry dock of 1961
- Displacement: 31,500 tons
- Dimensions: 767 x 280 x 28 ft
- Machinery: non-self-propelled
- Complement:
- Builder: Everett Shipbuilding Co., Everett, WA / Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Eureka, CA / Pollack-Stockton Shipbuilding Co., Stockton, CA / Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Morgan City, LA
- Laid down: 1943
- Launched: 1944
- Commissioned: 6 Jan 1945 / 10 Nov 1961
- Decommissioned: 9 Apr 1946 / 1 feb 1992
- Notes: Constructed from 7 Advance Base Docks, (ABD-37, ABD-38, ABD-39, ABD-40, ABD-51, ABD-52, ABD-58) erected and assembled into USS ABSD-7 at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA. Inactivated 9 Apr 1946 and reclassified Auxiliary Floating Drydock AFDB-7 in Aug 1946; disassembled and laid up in Atlantic Reserve Fleet in Jan 1947.
In Jul 1960 Holy Loch, Scotland, was selected as the forward base and refit facility for servicing American SSBN's in the Atlantic. Four sections of AFDB-7 were towed to Holy Loch in 1961, assembled over a period of six months, and placed in service as Los Alamos (AFDB-7).
The base stayed in operation throughout the Cold War until closed in Mar 1992. In the course of 30 years over 2800 submarine docking operations were performed, while working with a series of submarine tenders of Submarine Squadron 14, including USS Proteus, Hunley, Simon Lake, Canopus, Hunley, and Holland.
Disassembled and returned to the U.S. in sections. In 1996, six of the original ABSD-7 sections were moved to Brownsville, TX, and reassembled as Solomon Ortiz Dry Dock.
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