She was of the Romazotti type, and Naiade remained in service until just prior to the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Naïade was ordered by the French Navy under its 1900 building programme, the lead ship of a class of twenty.

She was designed by Gaston Romazotti, an early French submarine engineer and director of the Cherbourg Naval Dockyard.

She was single-hulled, with dual propulsion, and constructed of Roma-bronze, a copper alloy of Romazotti's devising.

[1] Naïade entered service in early 1907, and was employed on coastal duties, guarding ports and harbours.