USS Sterlet

USS Sterlet (SS-392) in 1968
History
United States
BuilderPortsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down14 July 1943
Launched27 October 1943
Commissioned4 March 1944
Decommissioned18 September 1948
Recommissioned26 August 1950
Decommissioned30 September 1968
Stricken1 October 1968
FateSunk as a target, 31 January 1969
General characteristics
Class & typeBalao class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement
  • 1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced
  • 2,391 tons (2,429 t) submerged
Length311 ft 6 in (94.95 m)
Beam27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum
Propulsion
Speed
  • 20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced
  • 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged
Range11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance
  • 48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged
  • 75 days on patrol
Test depth400 ft (120 m)
Complement10 officers, 70–71 enlisted
Armament

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.