Messidor 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.

Following a ministerial order on 22 February 1910, the aft tubes were reversed so they too fired forward, but at an angle of eight degrees.

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] Messidor, named after the first month of summer in the French Republican calendar, was ordered on 26 August 1905 from the Arsenal de Cherbourg.