Turquoise was disarmed at Bizerte, Tunisia and renamed FR 116 after being captured there by Italian forces on 8 December 1942.

The submarines electrical propulsion allowed it to attain speeds of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) while submerged.

[1] The Saphir-class submarines were constructed to be able to launch torpedoes and lay mines without surfacing.

The moored contact mines they used contained 220 kg of TNT and operated at up to 200 meters (660 ft) of depth.

They were attached to the submarine's exterior under a hydrodynamic protection and were jettisoned with compressed air.