On 13 November 2002, Oklahoma City collided with the Leif Hoegh liquefied natural gas tanker Norman Lady, east of the Strait of Gibraltar.

No one on either vessel was hurt, and there were no leaks of oil from fuel tanks and no threat to the environment, but the submarine sustained damage to the periscope and sail area, and put into La Maddalena, Sardinia, for repairs.

[citation needed] On 20 January 2005 Oklahoma City returned to Norfolk, Virginia, after a six-month deployment in support of national security interests and the War on Terrorism.

After the patrol, she then completed a circumnavigation of North America by transiting back to the Atlantic Ocean through the Panama Canal and returning to her home port in Norfolk.

The submarine spent May to July 2008 in the Eastern Pacific in support of the War on Drugs, and was responsible for seizing more than 11 metric tons of cocaine valued at more than $1.5 billion (USD).