Vol Navy

Former Voice of the Vols sports announcer George Mooney and a friend were the first to travel to football games by boat, in 1962. From that beginning, the UT Armada, or Vol Navy, has grown and may number as many as 350 boats for prime games. The floating tailgate parties often begin early in the week, as boats come down the river to assure themselves of dockage—latecomers must “raft out” from other boats, and game goers climb over the boats to the shore. The UT campus is one of two in the nation (the other is the University of Washington) to be accessible by boat. In 1972 dock space spanning 600 feet was constructed to accommodate the growing number of boats. In 1982 another 75 feet of dock space were added—and the tunnel under Neyland Drive built for the 1982 World’s Fair was available for use.