On 13 December 1988, Texas was pulled from her berth with great difficulty over the course of six hours by six large tugboats to begin the trip from her berth to Todd Shipyards in Galveston, Texas. Once under tow in the Houston Ship Channel she started taking on water, with a serious breach just forward of the engine rooms. The crew had three pumps and two pumps in continuous service to combat the flooding. During the nine-plus hour transit, the ship's draft increased by in the stern.
