Ordered on 31 December 1935, "Fleuret" was laid down by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée at their shipyard in La Seyne-sur-Mer on 18 August 1936. She was launched on 28 July 1938, commissioned on 10 May 1940 and entered service on 11 June. The following day, the ship sailed from Toulon to Casablanca, French Morocco to help to escort the battleship from Casablanca to Dakar before the French armistice with the Axis Powers. Together with the large destroyer , "Fleuret" escorted three passenger ships to Casablanca, 17–23 August. Later that month, she began escorting convoys from Casablanca to various ports in Occupied France. After the British attack on Dakar in September, "Fleuret" and her sister , together with the destroyers and were ordered attack British shipping in the Strait of Gibraltar on 25 September in retaliation. They encountered only an unidentified British destroyer; "Fleuret"s fire-control director malfunctioned and she was unable to engage her opponent at all. The ships continued onward to Oran, French Algeria, and "Fleuret" later returned to Casablanca on 7 October.