Drawbridge in background spans the Piscataqua river, dividing Maine from NH After frequent diesel engine failures had caused repeated delays in her operations, her deployment in support of Project SURPASS was canceled and preparations for her deactivation were begun. Albacore was decommissioned on 9 December 1972 and laid up at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 May 1980, and she was towed back to Portsmouth late in April 1984. When being towed to her drydock, the Albacore became stuck in the mud of Portsmouth Harbor. In 1985, she was dedicated as a memorial.

Albacore's service as an active experimental submersible for more than two decades steadily increased the Navy's knowledge of both theoretical and applied hydrodynamics which it used in designing faster, quieter, more maneuverable and safer submarines. The Navy's effort to build hulls capable of optimum operation while submerged was wedded to its nuclear propulsion program in the submarine Skipjack (SSN-585) which was laid down in the spring of 1956, and these two concepts have complemented each other in the design of all of the Navy's subsequent submarines.

Albacore is located at the Port of Portsmouth Maritime Museum and Albacore Park, 600 Market Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, reference number 89001077. She was designated a National Historic Landmark on 11 April 1989.