Although these were modern submarines when they were designed, they quickly became outdated and were approaching obsolescence by the beginning of the Second World War. The conditions of the Armistice of 22 June 1940 prevented the Vichy government from carrying out a modernization programme. 24 out of the 29 units that served in the war were lost. Used in the defence of the Second French colonial empire under the Vichy regime, submarines of the class saw action against Allied offensives at the Battles of Dakar, Libreville and Madagascar. Many of the submarines of the class came under Allied control after the Allied landings in North Africa. Few however saw much further active service after this due to a period of refitting and alterations done in the United States between February 1943 and March 1945. One exception was , which took part in the liberation of Corsica. The surviving submarines were largely used for training purposes after the war, with the last of them being disarmed in 1952.