USS McKee AS 41 – History of the U.S. Navy's Submarine Tender & Navy Decals

USS McKee AS 41 – History, Service Record & Navy Decals

The USS McKee (AS-41) was the third and final ship of the Emory S. Land class of submarine tenders — the most advanced submarine tenders ever built for the United States Navy — serving the Pacific Fleet through the Cold War's final decade and beyond. Named for Vice Admiral Andrew Irving McKee, USN — one of the most distinguished submarine engineers and technical leaders in the history of the United States Navy, a man whose contributions to American submarine design and construction spanned the critical decades from World War II through the dawn of the nuclear submarine era.

Andrew McKee was a Naval Academy graduate and naval architect who became one of the Navy's foremost submarine design experts. He served as Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Ships for submarines during World War II, overseeing the design and construction of the fleet submarines that conducted the devastating Pacific submarine campaign against Japan. After the war, McKee played a pivotal role in the early development of nuclear submarine technology, serving as a key technical figure in the Bureau of Ships during the years when Admiral Hyman Rickover was forging the nuclear Navy. His combination of deep submarine design expertise and technical leadership during two of the most consequential periods in submarine history — the wartime submarine building program and the nuclear transition — made Vice Admiral Andrew McKee one of the indispensable figures in the development of American undersea power, and USS McKee honored that distinguished legacy throughout her career.

Keel, Launch & Commissioning

McKee's keel was laid down on April 16, 1979, at the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company in Seattle, Washington. She was launched on November 1, 1980, and commissioned into the U.S. Navy on August 27, 1981, as the third and final ship of the Emory S. Land class under hull designation AS-41.

Class & Design

USS McKee was the third of the Emory S. Land-class submarine tenders — the most capable submarine support ships ever built for the U.S. Navy. At approximately 644 feet in length and displacing approximately 23,000 tons fully loaded, she carried the most comprehensive submarine support facilities afloat — nuclear propulsion system maintenance shops, advanced weapons handling facilities for torpedoes and missiles, sophisticated electronics and sonar repair capabilities, computer systems support, and every other highly specialized technical capability required to fully maintain the Navy's most advanced nuclear attack and ballistic missile submarines.

As the final ship of the class, McKee incorporated the operational lessons learned from her two sisters — Emory S. Land and Frank Cable — and represented the fully mature expression of the most capable submarine tender design in U.S. Navy history.

Cold War Pacific Fleet Service

Commissioned in August 1981, USS McKee was assigned to support the Pacific Fleet's nuclear submarine force during the Reagan administration's ambitious naval buildup that challenged Soviet maritime power across all the world's oceans. Homeported at San Diego, California, she provided comprehensive basing, maintenance, and support services to Pacific Fleet fast attack submarines through the Cold War's final decade — the most operationally intense period in the history of the Cold War submarine competition.

Pacific Fleet fast attack submarines that McKee supported operated at the cutting edge of American Cold War strategy — conducting anti-submarine warfare operations against the growing Soviet Pacific Fleet, tracking Soviet ballistic submarines out of Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk, gathering strategic intelligence on Soviet naval operations across the Pacific, and supporting the carrier strike groups and amphibious forces that were the visible expression of American Pacific power. Keeping those submarines fully operational through the high-tempo demands of late Cold War forward operations was a mission of the highest strategic importance, and USS McKee was essential to fulfilling it.

Later in her career, McKee was reassigned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, extending her reach across the Central Pacific and supporting the full breadth of Pacific Fleet submarine operations from the Navy's most important Pacific base.

Post-Cold War Service

Following the Cold War's end, USS McKee continued to support Pacific Fleet submarines as the Navy restructured for the post-Cold War era, maintaining her essential forward support role through the strategic transition of the 1990s.

Decommissioning

USS McKee was decommissioned on September 30, 2000, after nearly 20 years of commissioned service — a career spanning the Cold War's most operationally intense final decade and the opening years of the post-Cold War strategic transition.

Legacy

For the sailors and nuclear-trained submarine specialists who served aboard McKee — the nuclear propulsion technicians, weapons handling specialists, electronics repair professionals, and submarine maintenance experts who kept Pacific Fleet submarines battle-ready through nearly 20 years of Cold War and post-Cold War service at San Diego and Pearl Harbor — she represents a career of essential dedication to the submarine force. Named for the naval architect and technical leader who oversaw both the wartime submarine building program that won the Pacific War and the early nuclear submarine development program that won the Cold War's undersea competition, USS McKee honored Vice Admiral Andrew McKee's extraordinary legacy of submarine technical leadership with every year of distinguished service to the fleet's most advanced nuclear submarines.

Shop USS McKee AS 41 Navy Gifts & Decals

Honor your service or give a meaningful gift to a USS McKee veteran with our full line of USS McKee AS 41 products:

• USS McKee AS 41 Aluminum License Plate — Show your Navy pride on the road.
• USS McKee AS 41 License Plate U.S. Flag — A patriotic twist on the classic plate.
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• USS McKee AS 41 Parking Sign Red/White — Another great option for the garage or driveway.

All products ship from the USA. Custom options available — contact us for details.