High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Halibut (SS-232), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the halibut, a large species of flatfish found on both sides of the Atlantic. Her keel was laid down by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard of Kittery, Maine on 16 May 1941. She was launched on 3 December 1941 (sponsored by Mrs. P. T. Blackburn), and commissioned on 10 April 1942 with Commander Philip H. Ross (Class of 1927) in command.