LONG BEACH, Calif.—A three-masted tall ship with 42 children on board took on water off Southern California on Friday but managed to re-enter port under its own power after pumps were placed aboard.

The 130-foot American Pride reported the trouble about 12:30 p.m., Coast Guard Lt. Andrew Munoz. It was not immediately known how much water was taken on or what caused the problem.

Children in life jackets could be scene on deck in a view from a KCAL-TV helicopter overhead as emergency craft escorted the schooner into the Port of Long Beach.

The trouble occurred when the ship was about 8 miles south of Long Beach and numerous rescue craft were dispatched. Rescue crews managed to put pumps aboard, Munoz said.

The ship is operated by the nonprofit Children's Maritime Foundation of Yorba Linda. It was taking a group of 42 schoolchildren back from a weeklong trip to Santa Catalina Island, said a woman who answered the foundation's telephone but hung up without giving her name.

According to the American Pride's Web site, the schooner was built in 1941 and was used in commercial fishing off New England before being totally rebuilt in 1986. It was ultimately bought by the American Heritage Marine Institute and in 1996 was sailed through the Panama Canal to its current port at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach.

It advertises charter sailings, whale-watching and other trips.