USS Sterlet (SS-392) USS Sterlet (SS-392) USS "Sterlet" (SS-392), a "Balao"-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sterlet, a small sturgeon found in the Caspian Sea and its rivers, whose meat is considered delicious and whose eggs are one of the world's great delicacies, caviar. Her keel was laid down on 14 July 1943 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched on 27 October 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Charles A. Plumley, and commissioned on 4 March 1944 with Commander O. C. Robbins in command. Following fitting-out and shakedown training, "Sterlet" departed Key West,
HMS Sterlet (2S) under the command of Lt. Gerard Henry Stacpoole Haward. Four days later she unsuccessfully attacked a convoy of three merchant ships and a destroyer. The following day she was assigned a new patrol area and on 14 April torpedoed the German gunnery training ship "Brummer", leading to her sinking the following day. She was possibly sunk by the German anti submarine trawlers "UJ-125", "UJ-126" and "UJ-128" on 18 April. Alternatively, she may have struck a mine whilst returning to port. HMS Sterlet (2S) HMS "Sterlett" was a second-batch S-class submarine built during the 1930s for the Royal Navy. Completed in