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 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 28 April 1915 Fresnel attacked the naval base at Cattaro, one of a series of raids by French submarines on Austro-Hungarian ports.

Later that year on 5 December 1915, while on close blockade duty off Cattaro, Fresnel was detected and pursued by Austrian warships and aircraft.