Laid down in August 1924, it was launched in March 1927 and commissioned in February 1928.

On 9 June, Caïman narrowly missed the British light cruiser HMS Ajax off Syria.

It was scuttled at Toulon on 27 November 1942 to prevent her capture by the Germans, then raised in February 1943.

The submarines' electrical propulsion allowed it to attain speeds of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) while submerged and 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) on the surface.

Their surfaced range was 7,700 nautical miles (14,300 km) at 9 knots (17 km/h), and 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h), with a submerged range of 70 nautical miles (130 km) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h).