USS Sterlet (SS-392) to the Navy on 31 January 1969 when she was sunk as a target by the nuclear-powered submarine USS . "Sterlet" was awarded six battle stars for World War II service. 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
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