For the first time since the commissioning of the U.S.S. STERLET, we are authorized to make available to the public this brief account of our activities. We of the STERLET are proud of our achievements, and hope that you, the Citizens of the United States, who by your industry and sacrifice made our work possible, will share in our pride.

THE STERLET AND ITS INSIGNIA

Upon commissioning of the STERLET the Smithsonian Institute sent the ship an authentic colored picture of the fish for which the ship is named. The STERLET is a member of the sturgeon family and is found in the Caspian Sea and its rivers. The STERLET is esteemed for its flavor and the finest caviar is made from its roe.

The insignia, painted on the sides of the Conning Tower, was designed by Walt Disney. In the insignia a Gremlin, caricatured as a fish, is holding a bow in his left hand and a STERLET as an arrow in his right hand.

HISTORY OF THE U.S.S. STERLET (SS 392)

The keel of the U.S.S. STERLET was laid in the late summer of 1943 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H. The STERLET was launched on Navy Day, 1943, with the U.S.S. POMFRET, and the U.S.S. QUEENFISH in the first triple launching in submarine construction history. Mrs. Charles A. Plumley, wife of U.S. Representative Plumley, was the sponsor. The ship was commissioned on March 4, 1944, with Commander O. C. Robbins, U.S. Navy, as Commanding Officer. After an intensive training period the ship departed Key West, Florida, on May 1, 1944, en route Pearl Harbor to join the Pacific Fleet.

Arriving in Pearl Harbor on June 13, 1944, another training period was carried out until July 4, 1994, when the STERLET departed on her first war patrol.

WAR PATROL NUMBER ONE.

The first war patrol of the STERLET was conducted in the vicinity of the Bonin Islands, the chain of islands just south of the main Japanese island of Honshu. It was a patrol of fifty-three days. Four successful attacks were made on enemy shipping which resulted in the sinking of four ships totaling 14,200 tons. Three of these ships were sunk by torpedoes and one by gunfire. Enemy countermeasures were intense, but the STERLET escaped with only superficial damage. A prisoner was taken from a raft on August 5, 1944, after carrier planes had destroyed an enemy convoy north of the Bonin Islands. The STERLET returned to Midway for refit on August 26, 1944.

WAR PATROL NUMBER TWO.

Departing Midway Island on September 18, 1944, the STERLET proceeded to the Nansei Shoto Islands to conduct her second war patrol. During the first carrier strike on Okinawa the STERLET performed lifeguard duty and rescued six carrier airmen. Five torpedo attacks and two gun attacks were carried out. Two large tankers and one large freighter were sunk by torpedoes and one small freighter and a small fishing vessel were sunk by gunfire. One of the tankers had been previously damaged by the TRIGGER and SALMON, following which the SALMON was seriously damaged by counter-measures of the enemy escorts. Learning, several hours later, of the damaged condition of the SALMON, the STERLET, SILVERSIDES, and TRIGGER escorted the SALMON safely to Saipan. While transferring ammunition to the SALMON at sea a Japanese submarine attacked the STERLET but the torpedo was sighted and successfully evaded. The STERLET departed Saipan on November 10, in company with six other submarines under the command of Commander T. B. Klakring, to conduct a sweep to the westward and northward of the Volcano and Bonin Islands to destroy all patrol and anti-submarine vessels. During this sweep, which lasted for ten days, the STERLET sank one submarine chaser by torpedoes; making the total tonnage 21,900 tons for this patrol. At the conclusion of the sweep STERLET returned to Pearl Harbor for refit, arriving on November 30, 1944, after a patrol of seventy-three days.

WAR PATROL NUMBER THREE.

On December 27, 1944, Commander H. H. Lewis, U.S.N.R, assumed command and took the STERLET out on her third war patrol on January 25, 1945. The STERLET was a unit of a coordinated patrol group, consisting of the PIPER, POMFRET, BOWFIN, and TREPANG. This group left Saipan, conducting a sweep northward to Honshu, ahead of the fleet making the first carrier strike on Tokyo. Lifeguard services were furnished for twelve days during the strikes on the Japanese Empire by our carrier fleet, and reconnaissance sweeps for major units of the Jap Fleet were made while our task forces were in the Japanese Empire area. Two opportunities for torpedo attack were followed up and resulted in the sinking of a large tanker and large freighter, for a total of 15,000 tons. During this patrol the STERLET was again attacked by a Japanese submarine but the torpedoes were successfully evaded. A “Kamikaze” attack by two Japanese planes was frustrated when friendly fighter planes shot down the two Nips. At the conclusion of this sixty-nine day patrol the STERLET returned to Midway Island on April 4, 1945 for refit.

WAR PATROL NUMBER FOUR.

On April 29, 1945 the STERLET again departed Midway for her fourth war patrol in the Sea of Okhotsk and Kurile Islands area as a unit of a coordinated attack group of five submarines. During this patrol the STERLET attacked a convoy of two freighters and three escorts, sinking one medium freighter and damaging the other freighter in a single attack. Attempts to sink the damaged ship resulted in a running battle with the escorts which lasted for five hours before the STERLET managed to shake off a very mad and heavily armed escort vessel. Several days later an attack on a single freighter accompanied by one escort vessel turned into another close call when the freighter turned out to be a shooting “Q” ship - giving the STERLET another few hours of concern before she managed to shake him. After forty three days at sea the STERLET again returned to Midway Island for refit, arriving on June 10, 1945.

WAR PATROL NUMBER FIVE.

On July 5, 1945, the STERLET departed Midway for her fifth and last war patrol. This patrol was conducted in the Kii Suido and Bungo Suido Areas. This entire patrol was spent life guarding for carrier and B-29 strikes and patrolling the entrance to the inland Sea, the home of the remaining Japanese Fleet. Two British carrier pilots were rescued, one well up in Kii Suido. A daylight bombardment of the city of Shinu on the main island of Honshu by the STERLET, resulted in the destruction of several oil storage tanks and damage to a power plant. As a result of this, one lone Japanese plane ventured out and forced the ship to dive. This was the only Japanese plane seen during the entire patrol. This patrol was terminated by the surrender of Japan, and after fifty days the STERLET arrived again at Midway Island.

The STERLET remained in Midway until ordered to return to San Diego after fifteen months in the Pacific. The war record of the STERLET is five successful war patrols, in which she sank twelve Japanese ships, a total of 54,900 tons; damaged one 5,000 ton ship, and rescued eight friendly aviators.

As a result of her actions the officers and crewmen of the STERLET were awarded a total of twenty five decorations: one Navy Cross, four Silver Stars, seven Bronze Stars, and thirteen Letters of Commendation with Ribbon. As a result of participation in major fleet engagements crew members of the STERLET who made all five patrols are entitled to wear four battle stars in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon. The Submarine Combat Insignia was awarded to each crew member on the completion of a successful patrol, with Gold Star for each additional patrol.

The average age of the officers of the STERLET is twenty six years. Average age of the chief petty officers is twenty seven years, and for crewmen is twenty one years. The present complement of the STERLET is seven officers and seventy enlisted men.