Adolph S. Ochs (1858-1935) was the publisher of The New York Times, a transformational figure in American journalism and the patriarch of a family whose influence is still widely felt.

But the Adolph S. Ochs (1943-1968) was a Liberty ship, a 418-foot-long merchant vessel with a cargo capacity of 9,000 to 10,000 tons and a speed around 10 knots. Built in only 24 days, the Ochs carried grain from Canada to Britain and iron ore from Cyprus to Germany. It also called on South American ports.

The U.S. Maritime Commission mass-produced 2,700 Liberty ships to transport cargo and troops during World War II. Many were named after prominent Americans such as Mr. Ochs, who was renowned for having elevated The Times into the first ranks of the nation’s newspapers. He was among a handful of Jews honored with namesake Liberty ships.

Nearly 200 of the ships, including the Ochs, were lent to Britain, America’s closest ally in the war. British authorities renamed their Liberty ships with the prefix Sam-. (Historians have debated whether that was a reference to Uncle Sam or an acronym for “superstructure aft of midships.”)

The Ochs’s name was supposed to be changed to Samwyo, in line with other vessels honoring states of the union, like Samariz, Samkansa and Sampenn. Instead, it was one of six British Liberty ships whose original names were retained after “objections from the families involved,” Peter Elphick wrote in his book “Liberty: The Ships That Won the War.”

When the Ochs was returned to the United States in 1948, its first officer, J.S. Brown of Falkirk, Scotland, was quoted in The Times as saying the ship was “better than the average Liberty.” No matter. Its days of service were over.

The Ochs languished in the reserve fleet at Wilmington, N.C., for 20 years before it was sold for scrap in 1968 to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation. Ship breakers spared the nameplate from the front of the deck house. The 11½-by-14-inch plaque read: “S.S. Adolph S. Ochs, built for U.S. Maritime Commission, Hull No. 1791, by Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard Inc., Fairfield, Baltimore, Maryland, September 1943.”

The nameplate was presented in 1973 to Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger (1892-1990), the daughter of Adolph S. Ochs, by the Liberty Ship Memorial Program. It is now displayed in the Museum at The Times.

The In Times Past column explores New York Times history through artifacts.