[1] McKee graduated from the United States Naval Academy at the top of his class in navigation and was commissioned an ensign in March 1917.

[3] 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 (MIT).

[6] His accomplishments at Portsmouth included receipt of a Letter of Commendation from the Secretary of the Navy for participation in the rescue and salvage of USS Squalus in 1939, receipt of the Linnard Foundation award in 1940, and implementation the pressure hull improvements allowing Balao-class submarines to safely dive to 600 feet (180 m), rather than the nominal 300-foot (91 m) depth limitation for Gato-class submarines.

[6] 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.

[2] Following retirement, 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.