In this episode of Patrol Reports, we surface the story of the USS James K. Polk—a submarine that lived two very different lives beneath the waves. Commissioned in 1966 at the height of the Cold War, Polk carried the nation’s most powerful weapons on sixty-six deterrent patrols, vanishing for months at a time to keep the peace through silent vigilance. When the Cold War ended, she was reborn, trading missiles for Dry Deck Shelters and special operations missions as an attack submarine. From nuclear deterrence to covert warfare, her service tells the story of how the Navy adapted to a changing world without ever losing its edge. Today, only her sail remains, standing tall in New Mexico as a monument to the men who served aboard her—and to the submarine that evolved with the times while guarding the nation in silence.
