Floating Drydocks Built at Wilmington-- Part 2

They were designated ARDC, Auxilisary Repair Dock, Concrete and assigned numbers. The first one took almost five months to build and was designated ARDC-1. Eight of these were built during World War II in Wilmington and another five at San Pedro, California.

Five of them were towed to bases in the Pacific and Pearl Harbor. There, they repaired many combat-damaged warships.

Navsource says the ARDC-1 was built in 1944 by the Tidewater Construction Co. of Norfolk, Virginia. Jones says the Tidewater Construction Co. got the contract after V.P. Loftis Co. gave it up.

Also, three of the Wilmington Liberty Ships were deliberately sunk off Omaha Beach after D-Day as components of an artificial port used to ferry supplies and reinforcements to the continent.

Still, Really, Concrete Ships. --GreGen