Interesting points from a Navy guy:

*Surprisingly, the name of the ship Carter is replacing, the USS Parche (SSN 683), hasn’t been mentioned. Parche is the most decorated ship (I think) in the U.S. Navy, certainly the most decorated submarine. Parche was decommissioned a couple of months ago at the Bremerton (WA) Naval Shipyard and is on her way to becoming razor blades. She earned nine Presidential Unit Citations – not awarded lightly. Go here or here.
* The “naming” of submarines is a very touchy subject with many submariners. A class of submarine is designated by the name and hull number of the first ship of the class, hence the “Seawolf class” or “SSN 21 class”. The remaining submarines of the class receive names of the same type. Naming the first submarine of the 21 class the USS Seawolf was a much heralded (among submariners) return to naming submarines the original way. Not to denigrate America’s major cites, but they ought not be names for submarines – let the skimmers have those. (“Skimmers” or “targets” is how submariners refer to all surface ships.) The names of the three Seawolf class boats are an embarrassing example of the lack of consistency, integrity or even common sense among the leadership of the Navy.
USS Seawolf (SSN 21) — Superb!!
USS Connecticut (SSN 22) — Poor
USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23) — Abysmal