Germinal was one of 18 Pluviôse-class submarines built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) in the first decade of the 20th century.

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, including Germinal, were armed with a single 450-millimeter (17.7 in) internal bow torpedo tube.

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

[5] Germinal, named after the first month of spring in the French Republican calendar, was ordered on 26 August 1905 from the Arsenal de Cherbourg.