Appartnly the Ark, on her last commission, sailed with all lower water tight hatches secured. To go below you had to get clearance from damage control to ensure that a limited number of hatches were open at one time.
My informant, at one point, opened up a hatch just above the water line to discover the compartment, and it was presummed correctly the 5 below, was filled with the wet stuff.
It seems a sea cock had sheered and they had to get a number of 12 inch pumps to pump it out enough to secure the leaking compartment.
The old Ark was rotting to pieces. Remember she was laid down in 1944 and not launched until about 1950-51.
She would have been great for a wet lease.