Abstract In this paper, we consider station keeping control law for ultra-silent autonomous underwater vehicle(ULSI-AUV) based on the sliding mode controller. The mechanical system of ULSI-AUV prototype is designed and manufactured, and the electrical system is selected and installed. The kinematic and dynamics model is established. The goal of station keeping control is to make the ULSI-AUV prototype fixed-depth and anti-rolling to carry out underwater operations. Numerical results show the effectiveness of this method. In addition, real-time experimental results also prove the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.