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) 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