USS Frank Cable was built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, Wash. The ship was christened on January 14, 1978 by Mrs. Rose A. Michaelis, wife of Admiral F. H. Michaelis, then Chief of Naval Material. She was officially commissioned on February 5, 1980. AS 40 is named for Frank Taylor Cable, a electrical engineer who had worked as an electrician and trial captain for the USS Holland (SS 1) This was the first submarine of the U.S. Navy built by the Holland Torpedo Boat Company at [Ret.] Navy Lt. Lewis Nixon's Crescent Shipyard in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey.

The Frank Cable began decommissioning in 1996, but then was reactivated and refitted to replace USS Holland (AS 32) in the western Pacific as Commander Seventh Fleet's mobile repair and support platform. It proved its versatility after homeport change to Apra Harbor, Guam, where it is the sole mobile-support platform for all Seventh Fleet ships and submarines.

In 1997, the submarine tender was heavily involved with the rescue and recovery efforts following the Korean Airline Flight 801 crash on Guam, and also in the recovery and clean-up efforts following Super Typhoon Paka.

July 23, 2003 Capt. Paul J. Bushong relieved Capt. Kevin P. Ryan as commanding officer of USS Frank Cable.

September 6, The Frank Cable hosted a Friends and Family Day Cruise for the first time since March 2002, when the ship departed over the weekend to Saipan.

February 5, 2004 The submarine tender is currently in dry-dock for Maintenance Availability.

June 9, AS 40 departed Hong Kong after a five-day port visit.

April 25, 2005 USS Frank Cable departed Naval Station Pearl Harbor after a routine a port call.

July 29, Capt. Leo Goff relieved Capt. Paul J. Bushong as CO of USS Frank Cable during a change of command ceremony held aboard the ship.

September 13, The submarine tender is en route to its homeport after visiting Yokosuka, Japan.

June 23, 2006 AS 40 is currently in Saipan as part of Friends and Family Cruise.

August 18, USS Frank Cable returned to Guam after a five-week mission of training and community involvement. After leaving Guam to complete two weeks of onboard training and a successful torpedo recovery exercise (TORPEX), the ship pulled into Yokosuka July 24, for three weeks of regular maintenance and repairs.

September 20, The submarine tender is currently in Port Kelang, Malaysia, for a scheduled port visit. Malaysia is in the process of developing a submarine force to protect the 24 million citizens living within its 2,900 miles of coastline. It will begin operating its first Scorpene-class submarine in 2009.

October 7, USS Frank Cable is currently in Hong Kong Harbor tending deployed submarines USS Honolulu (SSN 718) and USS La Jolla (SSN 701). The tender's presence made it possible for the two submarines to make a port visit to the Asian metropolis as United States submarines cannot moor to the mainland.

October 13, AS 40 returned to homeport after a five-week underway period that included visits to Singapore, and Hong Kong.

December 7, A Sailor assigned to USS Frank Cable has died, at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, from injuries he sustained when a steam pipe ruptured in the engineering spaces of the Guam-based submarine tender on December 1. The accident occurred on the evening of Dec. 1 (Guam time), after the ship had returned to Guam. Personnel were conducting routine preventive maintenance checks of steam safety valves when the #1 Boiler experienced a major steam leak into the fire box, rupturing an exhaust plenum and sending pressurized steam into the Fire Room.

January 5, 2007 The Frank Cable started with 4-month Planned Maintenance Availability in Apra Harbor.

July 1, The submarine tender pulled to Vladivostok, Russia, for a scheduled port visit.

April 9, USS Frank Cable returned to Guam after a regularly scheduled underway period. After leaving homeport, the AS 40 Sailors completed 10 days of at-sea training before pulling into Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, for the first time in the ship's history. The primary mission while in port in Subic Bay was to provide support and voyage repairs to USS Pasadena (SSN 752).

July 22, 2008 USS Frank Cable is on its way back to homeport, after a six-day port visit in Hong Kong.

March 27, 2009 The submarine tender departed for a Friends and Family Day Cruise to the nearby island of Saipan.

August 25, Capt. Thomas P. Stanley relieved Capt. Patrick H. Scanlon as CO of the Frank Cable during a change-of-command ceremony aboard the ship at Polaris Point.

February 1, 2010 USS Frank Cable was officialy transfered to Military Sealift Command. Instead of having a USNS designation and being commanded by a civilian master, the Cable will operate as a commissioned ship with a U.S. Navy captain in charge of the hybrid crew. USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) and USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) are the only other MSC ships that retain their commissioned status and operate with a similar leadership and crewing configuration.