During World War II, Liberty Ships were launched by the US Maritime Commission for use by the merchant marines. At least seven of the 2751 ships launched under this program were named for individuals with UT affiliations. Two were named for charter trustees—the USS John Sevier and the USS William Blount; one was named for faculty member William Carson; three, the USS Clement Clay, the USS Adolph Ochs, and the USS Jesse Cottrell, were named for alumni; and one, for Charles A. Keffer, former state extension director. In the case of Keffer, the Maritime Commission honored Tennessee 4-H Club members for their contributions to World War II efforts by granting them the privilege of naming a ship, and they chose to name the ship for Keffer.
In 1977 a Spruance-class destroyer was named for David Robert Ray (UT alumnus, 1970), posthumous recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Also in 1977, an 8,400-horsepower towboat, one of the largest and most powerful owned by American Commercial Barge Line Company of Jeffersonville, Indiana, was named for UT Alumnus Dennis Hendrix, president of Texas Gas Transmission Corporation, Owensboro, Kentucky.