May 1972 she passed with ease through Lock-and-Dam Number 6, but her superstructure had trouble clearing a bridge on the way into Little Rock, Arkansas, and was only able to pass under when the United States Army Corps of Engineers lowered the river level by . One tug returned downriver, and the second tug continued the tow towards Fort Smith, Arkansas. Batfish arrived at the Will Brothers Port of Muskogee Terminal on 7 May 1972: this was her temporary home until a wide, long trench could be dug to Batfish′s permanent berthing site. On 4 July 1972, while still at Muskogee Terminal, Batfish unofficially was opened to the public. Heavy spring rains flooded the [Arkansas River on 12 March 1973, which caused Batfish to strain at her moorings, with fears that she would rip loose and damage the surrounding docks or collide with the new U.S. Route 62 bridge downriver and block the channel. Although Batfish remained moored, the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Commission balked at the risk the flood had revealed and asked to return Batfish to the Navy. However, the Navy declined, saying that it expected Oklahoma to honor its contract. On 4 April 1973, the trench to the new slipway was completed, and Batfish was maneuvered into position by cables attached to four bulldozers and a Port of Muskogee tugboat. Over the next week, further flooding of the slip brought Batfish to her final resting elevation, and by 1 May 1973 she had been realigned to overlook the Arkansas River. at what is now Muskogee War Memorial Park: Home of the USS Batfish. Batfish officially was opened on the Memorial Day weekend in late May 1973. By the end of August 1973, she was attracting a thousand visitors a week, with income from paid attendance doubling over her first seven weeks on display. She had been restored well with the exception of her conning tower. Until May 2019, she was open to the public year-round. Flood damage and planned relocation Batfish sustained US$150,000 in damage during the May 2019 Arkansas River floods, when water from the Arkansas River filled the basin surrounding her, resulting in Batfish floating for the first time in decades. While Batfish'''s hull remained watertight, allowing her to stay afloat as the water level rose, she began to list, which was corrected by the local fire department filling her ballast tanks with water. While