The contract to build Pintado was awarded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard, at Vallejo, California, on 29 December 1965, and her keel was laid down there on 27 October 1967.

She commenced her first operational deployment to the United States Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific in November 1972, returning to San Diego, in February 1973.

The collision smashed much of Pintado's sonar sphere, jammed one of her a starboard-side torpedo hatches shut, and moderately damaging one of her diving planes.

In August 1975,Pintado changed homeport to Bremerton, Washington, where she underwent upgrades and repairs at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

[4] She was operating with Republic of Korea Navy vessels on 6 December 1977, when a South Korean surface ship abruptly turned toward her.

From September to December 1978, Pintado operated in the Arctic under the polar ice cap, surfacing at the North Pole on 10 October 1978.

[4] In September 1979, Pintado deployed to the Indian Ocean and supported Carrier battle groups Alpha and Bravo during the early weeks of the Iranian hostage crisis.

[4] Pintado returned to the Arctic Ocean in September 1984, operating under the polar ice cap until December 1984, in company with one of her sister ships, the attack submarine Gurnard.

Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, in Bremerton, was completed on 27 October 1998.