Auxiliary repair dock

An Auxiliary repair dock is a type of vessel employed by the U.S. Navy, especially during World
War II, when it commissioned 33 such vessels.

The Auxiliary repair dock was actually a floating drydock, which could, by design, provide drydock
facility to damaged Navy vessels. Floating drydocks of this type were approximately 500-foot
(150 m) long and weighted about 5,000 tons.

Several floating drydocks of this type have been given names, such as USS West Milton (ARD-7),
but most of them have no name, only class designations, such as USS ARD-1.