Background
Mckee, Andrew Irwin was born on February 17, 1896 in Larenceburg, Kentucky, United States. Son of Lewis Witherspoon and Eliza Schenck (Irwin) Mckee.
Mckee, Andrew Irwin was born on February 17, 1896 in Larenceburg, Kentucky, United States. Son of Lewis Witherspoon and Eliza Schenck (Irwin) Mckee.
McKee graduated from the United States Naval Academy at the top of his class in navigation and was commissioned an Ensign in March 1917.
The destroyer United States Ship Schenck (Doctor of Divinity-159) was named for his maternal great-grandfather, Admiral James F. Schenck. He served with United States Ship 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 Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts pending admission to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
In 1921 he received a Master"s Degree in Naval Architecture from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was assigned to the Navy Construction Corps.
McKee was assigned to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard following graduation, and then transferred to the New London, Connecticut 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 United States Ship Dolphin (Steamship-169) from which evolved the successful fleet submarines of World World War World War II McKee served as new construction superintendent at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard from 1930 to 1934 and as hull superintendent at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard from 1934 to 1938.
In the latter post, he oversaw introduction of the all-welded pressure hull techniques pioneered while building the United States Ship Sturgeon (Steamship-187). Mount McKinley was anchored at Kerama Retto, where Captain McKee was given primary responsibility for inspecting ships damaged during the Battle of Okinawa, and deciding which ones should be repaired.
He was awarded a Bronze Star, and also a Gold Star in lieu of a second Legion of Merit for this assignment.
Captain McKee was promoted to Commodore and took command of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard following VJ-Day. He retired from active duty of July 1, 1947 and was advanced to Rear Admiral on the basis of his combat decorations. Following retirement, Admiral McKee worked as a research and design engineer for the Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics corporation in Connecticut until 1961 and as a senior technical advisor until 1974.
He died unexpectedly on January 24, 1976 during surgery in New York City.
The submarine tender United States Ship McKee (AS-41) is named for him.
Member of the United States Naval Institute, Society Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, American Society Naval Engineers, Sigma Xi, Pi Tau Sigma.
Married Katherine Brown, October 4, 1919 (divorced 1947). Married second, Baroness Ingeborg von Finckh, July 12, 1947. Children: Andrew Irwin, Katherine (Mistress Walter Miller Ousey), Lewis Witherspoon, Francis Brown.
