Néréide was the second and last built for the French Navy during the 1910s. Completed during World War I in 1916, the boat played a minor role during the war.
Design and description The Gustave Zédé class was built as part of the French Navy's 1909 building programSmigielski, p. 211 to satisfy an ambitious requirement for a "high-seas" () submarine capable of a speed of on the surface. To reach this speed the sisters were to use a pair of two-cycle diesel engines.Roberts, p. 447
Néréide had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draft of . She displaced on the surface and submerged. The crew of both boats numbered 43 officers and crewmen.Roberts, pp. 448–449
Néréides diesels each drove one propeller shaft and were designed to produce a total of , but only produced half that. These shortfall limited her to in service, although she reached from during her sea trials on 25 June 1916. When submerged each shaft was driven by a electric motor. The designed speed underwater was ; on 24 June, Néréide made from a total of . The boat carried enough fuel oil to give her surfaced range of at and demonstrated a submerged endurance of at .
The sisters were armed with a total of eight torpedoes. Néréide had two fixed internal torpedo tubes in the bow and a pair of fixed tubes forward of the conning tower. The other four were located in external rotating torpedo launchers, two on each broadside that could traverse 160–165 degrees to the side of the boats. She was equipped with a deck gun forward of the conning tower.Garier 2000, pp. 33, 41
Construction and career Néréide was ordered on 14 February 1911 and was laid down at the Arsenal de Cherbourg on 11 January 1912. She was launched on 9 May 1915 and commissioned on 31 October 1916.Roberts, p. 449
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