Navy commissions USS Jimmy Carter, last of the Seawolves

<p>The USS Jimmy Carter, the most heavily armed attack submarine built, officially entered the Navy's fleet at a commissioning ceremony Saturday.</p><p>Even as the Navy welcomed the $3.2 billion submarine, the first named after a living ex-president, it marked the end of an era. The Jimmy Carter is the last of the Seawolf class, which comprise three huge, deep-diving boats the Pentagon ordered as the Cold War neared its end in the early 1990s.</p><p>President Carter, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the only president to serve on a submarine, was on hand for the ceremony at the Naval Submarine Base New London.</p><p>Carter's wife, Rosalynn, christened the boat last June at a ceremony attended by the 39th president. She also attended Saturday's ceremony with Stansfield Turner, CIA director in the Carter administration.</p><p>At 453 feet and 12,000 tons, the USS Jimmy Carter is the biggest Seawolf. Unlike the others, it was built to perform reconnaissance and surveillance missions. Intelligence experts say the nuclear-powered sub will be able to tap undersea cables and eavesdrop on communications passing through them.</p><p>The Jimmy Carter can reach speeds of more than 45 knots and carry Tomahawk cruise missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes.</p><p>It is engineered to be quieter than the other Seawolves, making it better for surveillance.</p><p>The first boat in the class, the USS Seawolf, was commissioned in 1997. The USS Connecticut was commissioned the following year.</p><p>The Seawolves were built and launched by Electric Boat in Groton. Electric Boat and Newport News in Virginia are working jointly on the Virginia class submarines, which are to be commissioned elsewhere.</p><p>The USS Jimmy Carter has been in production for nearly a decade. The Pentagon delayed construction to install a 100-foot hull extension that military analysts say equips it to replace the USS Parche, one of the fleet's premier spy subs.</p><p>The Parche was decommissioned in October. The Jimmy Carter will operate out of the Parche's former home, the Naval Base Kitsap in Washington state.</p>

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