USS ABSD-3 at Guam, Marianas Islands. The USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) docked in ABSD-3 after the end of World War II. Note the white boxes on the barge; these are coffins that contain the remains of Pennsylvania crew members killed during the Aug. 12, 1945, kamikaze attack on her at Okinawa. / Homer N. Rich Jr. Navsource.org
DUANE H. ANDERSON
Age: 84
Hometown: St. Paul, Minn.
Residence: Desert Hot Springs
Military branch: U.S. Navy; USS ABSD-3
Years served: 1942-1946
Rank: Electrician mate third class
Family: Wife Norma; two children, Ellen Anderson-Winn of Sacramento and Michael Eric Anderson of Shelton, Wash.; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren.
About this series
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II Wednesday through Sunday through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
Coming tomorrow
U.S. Navy veteran Richard Brauner of Desert Hot Springs.
More
U.S. Navy veteran Duane Anderson helped fix bombed and broken warships while based on a floating repair station in the Pacific Ocean.
Anderson, a retired pastor, was an electrician mate third class aboard the USS ABSD-3 — Advanced Based Sectional Dock — based in Guam.
“Any ship that could get to us, we could repair it,” he said. “We put them back in action. We could lift anything afloat except aircraft carriers.”
The ship's 100-man crew worked with about 300 Seabees — members of the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalions — to keep the Pacific Fleet running and gunning.
He said the well-trained Seabees — whose diverse skills covered a wide range of construction know-how, including electrical, plumbing and carpentry — also were responsible for one of the most important tasks in the operation of the repair ship.
“They were divers,” he said.
The structure had to be lowered to allow water to flow over the repair deck, deep enough so the ship could sail into the dry dock.
The Seabees would dive into the water and place keel blocks — big, wooden blocks — under the bottom of the ship. The ship rested on these blocks when the water was released from the dry dock.
Anderson worked at the switchboard operation that controlled the submergence and elevation of the repair deck.
Orders would come through the switchboard directing the operation.
“They'd tell us when to open the valves and when to stop and when to purge the water out,” Anderson said.
Ships repaired on the USS ABSD-3 included the battleships USS Idaho and USS Pennsylvania, Anderson said.
The USS Pennsylvania had been attacked at Okinawa by torpedo and kamikaze hits.
“Many of the compartments were flooded,” he said. “We had a lot of dead. The Seabees went down and brought them up to the deck. There were 20 killed and 10 injured.”
The work was constant and grueling, he said. The men worked as quickly as they could to repair ships with minor damage and return them to battle, or they patched up badly damaged vessels so they could make it to Pearl Harbor for extensive repairs.
“It really helped us win the war,” he said. “We could keep our ships fighting.”
The Navy was successful in keeping knowledge of the important repair operation from the enemy.
“It was one of those silent things,” he said. “We didn't want it to be bombed and destroyed.”
At one point, the crew worked on 11 torpedo boats at one time, all lined up on the 81,000-ton lift capacity repair vessel.
“We were totally exhausted to death. It was a very intense time,” Anderson said. “You didn't count the days, you counted the meals. The Navy has good chow.”
Except when some tiny infiltrators helped themselves to the food supply.
“We had to pick the boll weevils out of the bread,” he said. “We'd hold the slice up to the light, pick out the weevils and eat the bread.”
