Under tow, the two side walls were folded down to reduce wind resistance and lower the center of gravity.

The pair of sections constructed on the Gulf Coast left Morgan City, Louisiana, on 14 July 1943.

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.

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.

In August 1946, the advanced base sectional dock was reclassified a large auxiliary floating drydock and was redesignated AFDB-1.

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.

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.