During World War II, she operated on the Allied side until 1940, when she became part of the naval forces of Vichy France.

[1][2][3] La Psyché was authorized in the 1929 naval program[1] and her keel was laid down at Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand in Le Havre, France, on 26 December 1930.

[1] In November 1934 La Psyché, her sister ships Amazone and Méduse, and the submarine Danaé visited Leith, Scotland.

Following a refit at Bizerte in Tunisia, she got underway to escort the French Navy submarine tender Jules Verne to Dakar in Senegal, where the two vessels arrived on 23 March 1941.

[1] La Psyché was in port at Casablanca on 8 November 1942 when Allied forces invaded French North Africa in Operation Torch.