Captain Siméon Bourgeois, who made the plans, and naval constructor Charles Brun began working on the design in 1859 at Rochefort.

The submarine was armed with a ram to break holes in the hull of enemy ships, and an electrically fired spar torpedo, fixed at the end of a pole,[4] though later Admiral Bourgeois (who was, after 1871, chairman of the Commission on Submarine Defenses) opposed the use of torpedoes as the primary weapon in commerce warfare.

On 6 October 1863, Plongeur made her first trials by sailing down the Charente River, to the harbour of the Cabane Carrée.

Because of poor weather conditions, the submarine was eventually towed to La Pallice and then to the harbour (Bassin à flot) of La Rochelle On 14 February 1864, during trials in the Bassin à flot, the engine raced due to an excessive admission of compressed air, and the submarine bumped into the quay.

Stability problems due to its length limited the submarine to dives to a maximum depth of 10 m (33 ft).

A model of Plongeur was displayed at the 1867 Exposition Universelle, where it was studied by Jules Verne,[6] who used it as an inspiration[7][8] for his novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.