Good Thing There Was a Rag Handy

Near-sinking of Battleship Texas a 'wake-up call' | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "Millions of dollars and major repairs have kept the iconic Battleship Texas afloat over the years, but last weekend it was a pump and a rag that stopped it from sinking into the Houston Ship Channel.

On Thursday, an employee at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, where the Texas is moored, noticed the 96-year-old ship was sitting lower in the water than usual when he left the park.

“The next morning when he got back, it was noticeably deeper,” said Mike Cox, spokesman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “He and other staff went below deck and found the ship was taking on water — to use nautical speak.”
A combination of a pump failure and leaks — at least one new one — had caused the ship to take on at least 105,000 gallons of water and sink nearly three feet into the channel.

By Saturday, replacement pumps and a rag stuffed into the new leak had righted the ship, and it was stabilized on Sunday, Cox said. Tours of the ship continued throughout the weekend."