The Pluviôse class were built as part of the French Navy's 1905 building program to a double-hull design by Maxime Laubeuf.

[4] The first six boats completed were armed with a single 450-millimeter (17.7 in) internal bow torpedo tube, but this was deleted from the rest of the submarines after an accident with their sister Fresnel in 1909.

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 29 November 1914, under the command of Lt. Henri Fournier, Cugnot attacked the naval base at Cattaro, one of a series of raids by French submarines on Austro-Hungarian ports.

She was successful in penetrating the net defences at the entrance of Cattaro bay; however, once in she was unable to find a target before being detected and driven off by three Austrian torpedo boats.