The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 10 December 1973 and her keel was laid down on 24 July 1981.

Admiral McKee served as Director of the Office of Naval Nuclear Propulsion, United States Department of Energy.

The ceremony was held in a downpour at Submarine Base Groton, Conn., and was well attended despite the weather and the one-hour delay due to the late arrival of U.S. Representative Charles E. Bennett of Florida, the principal speaker.

Hyman G. Rickover was featured prominently in the documentary "Submarine: Steel Boats-Iron Men" filmed in 1989 and aired in November 1991.

The submarine was towed the next year to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, where she remains moored until dismantlement and disposal, which is scheduled for 2016.