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

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

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 (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

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

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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

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

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, pending admission to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT). In 1921 he received a

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

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS), often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard on Seavey's Island in Kittery, Maine, bordering Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The naval yard lies along the southern boundary of Maine on ...

following graduation, and then transferred to the

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, 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 from which evolved the successful fleet submarines of

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.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

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from 1930 to 1934 and as hull superintendent at the

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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 . 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 Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

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

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from the

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for participation in the rescue and salvage of in 1939, receipt of the Linnard Foundation award in 1940, and implementation the

pressure hull A submarine hull has two major components, the ''superstructure'' and the ''pressure hull''. The external portion of a submarine’s hull—that part that does not resist sea pressure and is free-flooding—is known as the “superstructure” i ...

improvements allowing s to safely dive to , rather than the nominal depth limitation for 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 . ''Mount McKinley'' was anchored at

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

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

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

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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 of the

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corporation in

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