A 24-foot sailboat was raised Thursday from the murky depths of Monterey Harbor by divers who filled its hull with pingpong balls. —Kevin Howe —Sunken boat raised by pingpong balls (Monterey Herald)
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I Googled “donald duck ‘ping pong balls'” and found plenty of references. According to this page, it apparently appeared on “Walt Disney Comics and Stories #104,” by Carl Banks, and it’s been credited with inspiring a salvage company to raise a sunken ship containing the bodies of livestock that might have polluted Kuwait in the 60s.
I have seen this tested before. It only works down to a certain depth, at that point the pressure crushes the ping-pong balls, and they can’t be used. And I have seen the idea used by Donald Duck :) Don’t ask me which year or which episode though!