High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Sea Leopard (SS-483), a Tench-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the leopard seal. Her keel was laid down by the Portsmouth Navy Yard on 7 November 1944. She was launched on 2 March 1945 sponsored by Hon. Margaret Chase Smith, United States Congresswoman from Maine, and commissioned on 11 June 1945 with Commander Robert E. M. Ward in command.