recommissioned on 10 april 1951, "fulton" sailed three weeks later for new london, her home port for the next forty years until she was decommissioned in 1991. her primary assignment was as tender for submarine squadron 10 (subron 10) at new london, but she occasionally relieved fellow tender at norfolk, and also left new london for exercises from newfoundland and iceland to the caribbean. she first crossed the atlantic in the fall of 1957 for operation natoflex, visiting rothesay, scotland, and portland, england, before returning to new london. a heightening of her responsibility came on 1 april 1958, when three nuclear submarines were assigned to her squadron. in august, she sailed to new york city for the celebration of the arrival of from her historic submerged passage under the north pole. from august 1959-january 1960, the tender underwent a modernization overhaul at the philadelphia naval shipyard in order to be able to service both nuclear and conventional submarines, whether at home or overseas, making her the world's first nuclear support tender.