Groton — Capt. Carl Lahti will be replaced by Capt. Paul Whitescarver as commanding officer of the Naval Submarine Base during a change-of-command ceremony on Dec. 14.

Whitescarver, who will be the 51st commanding officer at sub base, most recently served in Norfolk, Va., as an operations officer. Before that he commanded the USS Scranton, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine.  

Lahti became base commander in May 2013, relieving Capt. Marc W. Denno. He has received temporary orders to work on a "special project related to undersea warfare" at the Undersea Warfighting Development Center, a new command headquartered at the base that will train the submarine force in advanced tactics, techniques and procedures for anti-submarine warfare. Rear Adm. Jeffrey Trussler leads the command.

Lahti said recently that he plans to take three weeks off after the change-of-command before starting at the UWDC.