USS Aspro (SS/AGSS-309), a Balao-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the aspro, a fish found abundantly in the upper Rhône River. According to legend, the aspro comes to the surface only in bad weather, when other fishes take refuge near the bottom. This trait gave rise to its nickname, "Sorcerer." Aspro was laid down on 27 December 1942 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine; launched on 7 April 1943; sponsored by Mrs. William L. Freseman; and commissioned on 31 July 1943, Lieutenant Commander Harry Clinton Stevenson in command.