..."The most deeply appreciated and emotional honor I've ever had is to have this great ship bear my name," Carter said in remarks prepared for the ceremony at the Naval Submarine Base New London.

Carter, with his wife, Rosalynn, was joined by his vice president Walter Mondale and his wife, Joan, and Stansfield Turner, CIA director in the Carter administration.

The 453-foot, 12,000-ton submarine has a 50-torpedo payload and eight torpedo tubes for Tomahawk cruise missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes. According to intelligence experts, it can tap undersea cables and eavesdrop on the communications passing through them.

It can reach speeds of more than 25 knots and is engineered to be quieter than the other two Seawolves, making it better for surveillance.

A 100-foot hull extension to the Jimmy Carter equips it to replace the USS Parche, one of the fleet's premier spy subs, analysts say.