She saw service in World War II, first on the side of the Allies from September 1939 to June 1940, then in the forces of Vichy France.

Ordered on 30 June 1922[3] and laid down by Chantiers Schneider et Cie at Chalon-sur-Saône, France, on 15 January 1924[3][4] with the pennant number Q125, Circé was launched on 29 October 1925.

In 1940, the Allies made plans to intervene in Norway to prevent the shipment of iron ore from Sweden to Germany via Narvik on the Norwegian coast.

The French submarines found limited facilities available to them at Harwich and had to rely largely on Jules Verne and spare parts sent from Cherbourg in France for repairs, some of which never were completed.

[3] By 6 May 1940, the Allies had indications that a German invasion of the Netherlands was imminent, and that day Horton ordered all available submarines to put to sea.

On that day, Circé, Calypso, and Thétis were still part of the 13th Submarine Division, based at Toulon but assigned to overseas duty in "Africa and the Levant.

To avoid bombardment by American forces, the French submarines anchored at the Sidi Abdallah Arsenal at Ferryville, Tunisia.