[2] Joule was ordered by the French Navy as part of its 1906 programme and was laid down at the Toulon Naval Yard in November of that year.

diesel engines for surface propulsion, and electric motors for power while submerged.

[3] At the outbreak of the First World War Joule was part of the French Mediterranean Fleet.

In the spring of 1915 she was dispatched as part of a French task force to assist in the naval assault on the Dardanelles, the first stage of the Gallipoli campaign.

At the end of April, under the command of Lt. L Aubert Dupetit-Thouars, Joule began an attempt to penetrate the straits in order to attack Turkish shipping in the Sea of Marmara.