USS Sea Tiger was a fictional submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 presumably named for the barracuda

Barracuda

The barracuda is a ray-finned fish known for its large size and fearsome appearance. Its body is long, fairly compressed, and covered with small, smooth scales. Some species could reach up to 1.8m in length and 30 cm in width...

. No vessel of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 has been given that name, but the 1959 movie Operation Petticoat

Operation Petticoat

Operation Petticoat is a 1959 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. It was the basis for a television series in 1977 starring John Astin in Grant's role...

, starring Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

 and Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...

, and the short-lived 1977-1978 television series of the same name, were set aboard a fictional Sea Tiger. According to the movie's dialogue, Sea Tiger was commissioned in 1940.

The name may come from the actual WWII-era submarine USS Sealion (SS-195)

USS Sealion (SS-195)

USS Sealion , a Sargo-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sea lion, any of several large, eared seals native to the Pacific....

, which like its film counterpart, was sunk at the pier at Cavite Navy Yard, the Philippines, on 10 December 1941 with the loss of 5 crewmembers.

The Sea Tiger in the movie was portrayed by three different American Balao-class submarines

Balao class submarine

The Balao class was a successful design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 122 units built, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences...

:

• Queenfish (SS-393)
  USS Queenfish (SS-393)
  USS Queenfish , a Balao-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the queenfish, a small food fish found off the Pacific coast of North America....
  
  , in the opening and closing scenes (circa 1959), in which the "393" on the conning tower is visible,
• Archerfish (SS-311)
  USS Archerfish (SS-311)
  USS Archer-Fish was a Balao-class submarine. She was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the archerfish, a family of fish notable for its ability to project a powerful spout of water at its insect prey...
  
  , for all the WWII scenes where the boat was painted the standard gray and black,
• Balao (SS-285)
  USS Balao (SS-285)
  USS Balao , was the lead ship of the United States Navy's Balao-class submarines during World War II; Balao is the name of any of several halfbeak fish....
  
  , for all the scenes in which Sea Tiger was painted pink
  Pink
  Pink is a mixture of red and white. Commonly used for Valentine's Day and Easter, pink is sometimes referred to as "the color of love." The use of the word for the color known today as pink was first recorded in the late 17th century....
  
  .