The contract to build Guardfish was awarded to New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey on 9 June 1960 and her keel was laid down on 28 February 1961.

The submarine departed Camden on 15 February 1967, and commenced shakedown training, conducting exercises in the San Juan, Puerto Rico area.

In 1970 Guardfish returned to Atlantic waters to commence an overhaul at Ingalls Nuclear Shipbuilding Division, Pascagoula, Mississippi.

On 9 May the Vietnam War was heating up as the Paris peace talks had broken down and American forces had commenced mining Haiphong and other major North Vietnamese harbors.

This class displaced 5,000 tons, was powered by a nuclear reactor, and carried eight Shaddock surface-to-surface missiles, which could be fired at targets up to 200 miles (320 km) away.

During the next two days the Soviet submarine frequently slowed and spent long periods at periscope depth, probably receiving detailed orders from his naval commander.

On 18 May the Echo entered the South China Sea and transited to a point approximately 300 miles (480 km) off the coast of Luzon.

For eight days he established a slow moving grid track which covered a rectangular patrol area approximately 700 miles (1,100 km) from U.S. carriers along the Vietnamese coast and well beyond the 200-mile range of its missiles.

While the tracking team struggled to maintain contact with the Echo, President Nixon went to Moscow for a summit meeting with Soviet's general secretary Brezhnev.

During the summit National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger informed Brezhnev that the US knew the Soviets had deployed submarines and their presence so close to the Vietnamese War Zone was provocative and extremely dangerous.

About 370 miles from Puget Sound[1] sailing between Pearl Harbor and Bangor, Washington, the Guardfish suffered a leak in the primary coolant of its nuclear reactor.

[2] A crewman performing a leak test on a valve accidentally created a path for coolant to flow out from the primary loop, which circulates through the reactor core.

Five crewman were sprayed with radioactive steam and required decontamination, followed by hospital care at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Guardfish entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard in August 1975 for refueling, and returned to sea in July 1977, Changing homeport to San Diego, California, as an operational unit of Submarine Squadron Three.

Guardfish went through a refueling / SUBSAFE overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, completing her first dive to full test depth in 1977.

GUARDFISH returned from a most successful six month Western Pacific Deployment in January 1987, for which she was awarded her third Navy Unit Commendation.

Guardfish conducted two Western Pacific deployments and a three-month Selective Restrictive Availability between September 1988 and October 1990.

Guardfish conducted a Northern Pacific Deployment before changing homeport in June 1991 to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington.