They were built in the Arsenal de Cherbourg from 1913 to 1920, before entering the French Marine Nationale in 1920 and serving until 1936.

The ships were designed by Jean Simonot, as a modification of his previous project, Gustave Zédé, using two Parsons steam turbines with a power of 2,000 hp (1,491 kW).

They had two shafts powered by two diesel engines built by Schneider-Carels for surface running with a combined total of 2,700 hp (2,013 kW) and two electric motors which together produced 1,640 horsepower (1,220 kilowatts) for submerged propulsion.

[1][2][3] Two Joessel-class submarines were built in the Arsenal de Cherbourg, France.

It was planned to build six additional ships of this type, numbered Q 115 to Q 120, but the order was canceled in the course of World War I.