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) survivor from a Japanese convoy destroyed by American aircraft carrier planes three weeks earlier. The submarine remained at Midway for just over three weeks; then headed for its patrol area in the Nansei Shoto on 18 September. After sinking a small Japanese fishing boat on 9 October, "Sterlet" rescued six downed airmen off Okinawa. On 18 October, she made an unsuccessful attempt to close and attack one of six destroyers escorting three cruisers. Two days later, she fired a spread of three torpedoes at a Japanese cargo ship, but all three missed. She made a third fruitless approach on 25