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,
USS Sterlet (SS-392) patrol was given over to lifeguard duty for the crews of carrier planes and B-29 Superfortresses attacking Japan. "Sterlet" rescued a New Zealander and a Briton, one was near the Kii Channel between Shikoku and Honshu. When Japanese capitulation brought an end to the patrol, "Sterlet" returned to Midway on 23 August. On 6 September, she sailed for the United States entering reaching San Diego Naval Base ten days later. "Sterlet" remained on the West Coast until the end of February 1946, at San Diego until 13 November and at San Francisco, California, thereafter. On 26 February 1946, she started