Rear Admiral Andrew I. McKee (February 17, 1896 – January 24, 1976) was a pioneer in modern

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

design and development. The destroyer was named for his maternal great-grandfather, Admiral James F. Schenck. McKee graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

at the top of his class in navigation and was commissioned an

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in March 1917.Alden, John D., CDR USN "Andrew Irwin McKee, Naval Constructor" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' June 1979 p.50 He served with USS ''Huntington'' until he severely injured both legs in a fall from the mast in August 1917. He was declared unfit for sea duty, and assigned first to the Naval Academy as a navigation and physics instructor, and then as the supervisory naval constructor at

Bethlehem Steel Corporation The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succ ...

Fore River Shipyard Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901 ...

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

, pending admission to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT). In 1921 he received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and o ...

from MIT, and was assigned to the Navy Construction Corps. McKee was assigned to

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuo ...

following graduation, and then transferred to the

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, submarine base in 1924. McKee became ship type assistant of submarine design for the Navy Bureau of Construction and Repair in Washington from 1926 to 1930, where he directed the design of USS ''Dolphin'' (SS-169) from which evolved the successful fleet submarines of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.Alden, John D., CDR USN "Andrew Irwin McKee, Naval Constructor" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' June 1979 pp.51–52 McKee served as new construction superintendent at the

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the cit ...

from 1930 to 1934 and as hull superintendent at the

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...

from 1934 to 1938.Alden, John D., CDR USN "Andrew Irwin McKee, Naval Constructor" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' June 1979 p.53 In the latter post, he oversaw introduction of the all-welded pressure hull techniques pioneered while building the USS ''Sturgeon'' (SS-187). Captain McKee worked in submarine planning, design and construction as the Design Superintendent of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from 1938 to 1945, and was awarded a

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

for his service there.Alden, John D., CDR USN "Andrew Irwin McKee, Naval Constructor" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' June 1979 p.56 His accomplishments at Portsmouth included receipt of a Letter of Commendation from the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

for participation in the rescue and salvage of USS ''Squalus'' (SS-192) in 1939, receipt of the Linnard Foundation award in 1940, and implementation the pressure hull improvements allowing

Balao class submarine The ''Balao'' class was a successful design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 120 boats completed, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier , the boats had slight ...

s to safely dive to 600 feet, rather than the nominal 300-foot depth limitation for

Gato class submarine The ''Gato'' class of submarines was built for the United States Navy and launched in 1941–1943; they were the first mass-production U.S. submarine class of World War II. Together with their near-sisters the and es, their design formed the m ...

s.Alden, John D., CDR USN "Andrew Irwin McKee, Naval Constructor" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' June 1979 pp.53–56 In 1945, he joined the staff of Commander Service Force, Pacific Fleet, as senior assistant fleet maintenance officer aboard USS ''Mount McKinley'' (AGC-7). ''Mount McKinley'' was anchored at

Kerama Retto The are a subtropical island group southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Geography Four islands are inhabited: Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, Aka Island, and Geruma Island. The islands are administered as Tokashiki Village and Zamami Vill ...

, where Captain McKee was given primary responsibility for inspecting ships damaged during the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

, and deciding which ones should be repaired. He was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, and also a Gold Star in lieu of a second Legion of Merit for this assignment. Captain McKee was promoted to

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

and took command of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard following

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. He retired from active duty of July 1, 1947, and was advanced to rear admiral on the basis of his combat decorations. Following retirement, McKee worked as a research and design engineer for the

Electric Boat Division General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for more than 100 years. The company's main facilities are a shipyard in Groton, Co ...

of the

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

corporation in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

until 1961 and as a senior technical advisor until 1974. He was awarded the

David W. Taylor David Watson Taylor (March 4, 1864 – July 28, 1940) was a U.S. naval architect and an engineer of the United States Navy. He served during World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair. Ta ...

Medal of the Society of Naval Architects and Engineers in 1956. He died unexpectedly on January 24, 1976, during surgery in New York City.

Namesake

The submarine tender USS ''McKee'' (AS-41) is named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, Andrew United States Navy admirals United States Naval Academy alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit American military personnel of World War I United States Navy personnel of World War II People from Lawrenceburg, Kentucky 1896 births 1976 deaths Submarine design American naval architects American military engineers 20th-century American engineers Engineers from Kentucky

Namesake

See also

References