The contract to build Cavalla was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 24 July 1968 and her keel was laid down there on 4 June 1970.

During her 1981 Westpac cruise ( January–June ) under Commander Fredric W. Rohm USN, Cavalla visited HMAS Stirling in Rockingham, Western Australia, for R&R from 15 to 22 April 1981.

During her Western Pacific deployment of 1985–1986, Cavalla supported critical dry deck shelter operations for SEAL team certification.

[citation needed] In addition to this award, her crew members also earned various U.S. Navy ceremonial certificates during this same deployment: "shellback" status for crossing the equator, the Order of the Ditch on two occasions for transiting the Panama Canal, the Domain of the Golden Dragon on two occasions for crossing the International Date Line, and the Order of the Spanish Main for operating in the Caribbean Sea.

Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 17 November 2000.