Caviar off their coasts. Beluga caviar is prized for its soft, extremely large (pea-size) eggs. It can range in color from pale silver-gray to black. It is followed by the small golden sterlet caviar which is rare and was once reserved for Russian, Iranian and Austrian royalty. Next in quality is the medium-sized, light brown to rich brown Ossetra, also known as Russian caviar. Others in the quality ranking are the gray sevruga caviar, the Chinese Kaluga caviar, and the American osetra. The Siberian variety with black beads is similar to sevruga and is popular because of its reduced (5 years)
HMS Sterlet (2S) reload torpedoes for a total of a dozen torpedoes. They were also armed with a 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun. Ordered on 2 March 1936, "Sterlett" was laid down on 14 July 1936 in HM Dockyard, Chatham and was launched on 22 September 1936. The boat was completed on 6 April 1938. At the onset of the Second World War, "Sterlet" was a member of the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. From 23–26 August 1939 the 2nd Submarine Flotilla transferred to its war bases at Dundee and Blyth. On 8 April 1940 "Sterlet" left for a patrol in the Skagerrak, off Norway