[1][2][4] She was propelled on the surface by two Sulzer two-stroke diesel engines producing a combined 1,800 horsepower (1,342 kW).

[1][2][4] Underwater propulsion was provided by two electric motors producing a combined 1,400 horsepower (1,044 kW).

[1][2][4] Pierre Chailley′s main armament consisted of 24[5] or 40 (according to different sources) 200-kilogram (441 lb)[2] mines, and she employed the Fernand Fenaux minelaying system, in which the mines were stored in wells placed in inclined external ballast tanks, with a direct release mechanism.

[1][2] Her keel was laid down at Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand in Le Havre, France, in May 1917.

[7] Decommissioned and stricken from the navy list on 13 May 1936,[4] Pierre Chailley was condemned at Cherbourg, France, on 14 May 1936.