Le Verrier was one of 16 s built for the French Navy during the 1910s. Completed in 1913, the boat was assigned to the 2nd Submarine Squadron in Bizerte, French Tunisia, when the First World War began in August 1914.
Design and description The Brumaire class was built as part of the French Navy's 1906 building programSmigielski, p. 210 to a double-hull design by Maxime Laubeuf that were diesel-engined versions of the preceding . The boats displaced surfaced and submerged. She had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draft of .Roberts, p. 440 Her crew numbered 29 officers and crewmen.
For surface running, the Brumaires were powered by two diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. The engines were designed to produce a total of , but normally only produced , which was enough to give the boats a speed of . When submerged each shaft was driven by a electric motor. The maximum speed underwater was . They had a surface endurance of at and a submerged endurance of at .
The Brumaire class was armed with one torpedo tube in the bow and 6 external 450 mm torpedo launchers; all of which were positioned on the top of the hull. The two forward ones were fixed outwards at an angle of six degrees. The other launchers were single rotating Drzewiecki drop collars amidships. They could traverse 135 degrees to each side of the boat. One reload was provided for the bow tube. Le Verrier received a deck gun at some point during the war.Garier 1998, p. 121
Construction and career Le Verrier was ordered on 29 October 1906 and was laid down on 4 August 1908 at the Arsenal de Toulon. The boat was launched on 31 October 1912 and commissioned on 30 October 1913. When the First World War began in August 1914, she was assigned to the 2nd Submarine Squadron () of the 1st Naval Army () at Bizerte.
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