| Year | Date | Historical Events |
| 1958 | Aug 25 | Keel laid on Shipway #5, Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. |
| 1959 | Dec 18 | Launched. |
| 1960 | Sep 16 | Commissioned with CDR. Reuben F. Woodall commanding the Blue Crew and CDR. Joe Williams, Jr. commanding the Gold Crew.
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| | Dec 2 | Got underway for the Narragansett Bay Operating Area for torpedo firing tests. |
| | Dec 12 | Arrived at Cape Kennedy, FL. and loaded Polaris A-1 test missiles. |
| | Dec 22 | Conducts her first Polaris A-1 test missile launch. The missile ran "hot and true" and hit the target. It was the first completely successful "shot" on the first attempt. It was also the first A1 test that was programmed to |
| 1961 | Jan 15 | Departed for Bermuda Operating Area, joined with the USS Torsk (SS-423) and engaged in anti-submarine training. |
| | Feb 3 | Returned to Newport News, VA. dry-dock for yardwork. |
| | Mar 15 | Departed Newport News, VA. dry-dock. |
| | Mar 25 | Loaded torpedoes at Yorktown, VA. |
| | Apr 9 | Arrived Cape Kennedy, FL. and conducted "Special Operations" |
| | May 2 | Departed for her first patrol, loaded with 16 Polaris A-1 missiles |
| | Jul 9 | Returned from first patrol (after establishing a record by staying submerged for 68 days, 4 hours and 15 minutes). Arrived in Holy Loch, Scotland, alongside the USS Proteus AS-19, where she joined SUBRON 14 on July 10th. |
| | Aug 9 | Conducted practice torpedo firing during the first week of August and then departed Holy Loch, Scotland for her 2nd deterrent patrol. |
| 1963 | Sep 10 | Robert E. Lee entered the floating drydock Los Alamos (AFDB-7). |
| | Oct 4 | Lee resumed her normal patrol schedule. Continuing to operate out of Holy Loch into 1964. |
| 1965 | Feb 23 | Arrived at Mare Island, CA. for her first overhaul, refueling and weapons system modification allowing her to carry the Polaris A-3 missile. |
| 1966 | Aug 9 | Completed sound trails in Puget Sound, WA. and a brief port of call in San Diego, CA., left the West Coast and transited through the Panama Canal. |
| | Sep 4 | Arrived in Charleston, S.C., after dodging Hurricane Hope. |
| | Oct 10 | Successfully fired a tactical Polaris A-3 missile during DASO at Cape Canaveral, FL. |
| | Dec 5 | Blue crew departed Charleston, SC. for patrol #17 with 16 A-3 Polaris missiles to end at the Holy Loch, Scotland. |
| | Dec 15 | From Dec 1966 To Dec 1970, made deterrent patrols # 17 to # 33 out of the Holy Loch. |
| 1971 | Jan 21 | Started her second overhaul and refueling at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA. |
| 1972 | Aug 1 | Left Puget Sound, WA. to transit the Panama Canal. The Lee visited Cape Kennedy,FL., Charleston, SC. and Norfolk, VA. before once again being home ported out of New London/Groton, CT. area. |
| | Oct 10 | Blue crew successfully launched a Polaris A3T missile at Cape Kennedy, FL. during the post overhaul DASO. |
| 1973 | Jan 16 | Deployed for patrol with 16 A-3 Polaris missiles to end in Rota, Spain. |
| | Aug 10 | After two patrols out of Rota, she once again transited the Panama Canal for a change of homeport. as the Lee left the Atlantic Ocean, it officially ended deployment of the A-3 Polaris missile weapons system in the Atlantic Fleet. |
| | Sep 5 | Arrived in Pearl Harbor, HI. After a month in Hawaii, she sailed for Apra, Guam and began her final deployment for deterrent operations. |
| 1974 | Oct 15 | Successfully launched five A3T missiles in a Follow-On Operational Test (FOT). |
| 1976 | Jan 1 | Blue and Gold crews where once again combined and the Lee underwent her third refueling at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA. |
| 1978 | Oct 1 | After leaving Mare Island, CA., the crews where split again. Blue crew took the Lee through the Panama Canal to Florida for DASO, while the Gold crew was flown to Hawaii. |
| | Dec 1 | The Gold crew was flown to Cape Kennedy, Fl. for the DASO, then the boat proceeded back through the Canal (while in the locks, the crew held a BBQ on the missile deck while waving at passengers on the Pacific Princess a.k.a. the "Love Boat"). |
| 1979 | Jan 1 | After a brief port of call in San Diego, CA., Lee proceeded to Bangor, WA. and spent a month there while loading missiles, then proceeded to the new home port in Hawaii. |
| | Mar 1 | Arrived in Honolulu, HI. and the Blue crew made the first post overhaul patrol. Months later, the Gold was flown to Guam to relieve the Blue crew. |
| | Oct 1 | Completed her 55th patrol, which was also the US Navy’s last Polaris patrol. |
| | Nov 1 | Mid-patrol break in Chin-hae, South Korea. |
| 1982 | Jan 1 | Left Pearl Harbor, HI. and headed for the explosive handling wharf at Bangor, WA. |
| | Feb 28 | A-3 missiles were off loaded and officially ended the US Navy's Polaris program. |
| | Mar 1 | Was redesignated SSN-601, then operated on the West Cost as an attack submarine with a consolidated crew for the next year (the crew nicknamed these operations as "slow attack or slow approaches"). |
| 1983 | Feb 1 | Entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA. to defuel the reactor and remove her missile section. |
| | Dec 1 | Decommissioned. |