She was designed by Gabriel Maugas, an early French submarine engineer, and was built at the Naval Dockyard in Rochfort.

The details of the catastrophe, once released by the press, horrified France and drew national attention to the dangers of submarines, which the French Ministry of Marine was at that time investing a great deal of money in.

[citation needed] On 6 July 1905, during a routine patrol en route from Sidi Abdallah to Bizerte, in Tunisia, Farfadet sank suddenly, taking 14 of her crew with her.

Four sailors in the bow were drowned, and the weight of water in the flooded forward section caused Farfadet to dip and dive straight down, where it became embedded in the mud at the bottom of the harbour.

[2] Submarine pioneer John P. Holland wrote in How To Fly Like a Bird (1906) that Farfadet had moved in such a way as to upset her ballast tank, which in turn submerged an open hatch.

This unexpected manoeuvre, combined with her speed, forced the top of her turret under and she took enough water on board to send her to the bottom.

Four hawser (steel) cables were wrapped around the submarine in preparation for the arrival of a 20-ton pontoon and crane, belonging to the Hersen Company.

At 3.20pm the vessel was raised, its aft portion breaking the water so that airlocks could be opened and the air inside renewed for the surviving crew.