Circé was the lead boat of her class of two submarines built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) in the first decade of the 20th century.

The Circé class were built as part of the French Navy's 1904 building program to a double-hull design by Maxime Laubeuf.

[2] For surface running, the boats were powered by two German MAN 315-metric-horsepower (311 bhp; 232 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft.

The other launchers were a rotating pair of Drzewiecki drop collars in a single mount positioned on top of the hull at the stern.

On 20 September 1918, Circé under command of Lt. Henri Viaud was on anti-submarine patrol in the Southern Adriatic Sea, off Cattaro, when she was torpedoed by the Austro-Hungarian Navy submarine SM U-47 at 04:00, while recharging her batteries.