Gustave Zédé ( Q2 ) Gustave Zédé was one of the world ' s earliest commissioned naval submarines . She was launched on 1 July 1893 at Toulon , France , although only formally entering service with the French Navy in May 1900 after a long series of trials and design alterations . The submarine carried out the first successful torpedo attack by a submerged vessel against a surface ship . The boat was named for Gustave Zédé , a French naval architect who had worked on its design , but who died in 1891 following an explosion during development of an experimental torpedo . The submarine was ordered on 4 October 1890 with the name " Sirène " . Development followed on from the previous smaller design , . Both ships were electrically propelled using power from storage batteries . Development . The French Navy had become interested in unconventional approaches to naval warfare in its attempts to face the numerically superior Royal Navy , and was an early adopter of the torpedo and torpedo boat for use against battleships . As part of this program , they became interested in the submarine , able to approach undetected to within torpedo range . The " Gustave Zédé " was the second experimental submarine developed for the French Navy . In December 1898 " Gustave Zédé " took part in naval exercises with the Mediterranean fleet commanded by Admiral François Fournier . The submarine successfully twice attacked the gunnery training ship " Magenta " , once at anchor and once while the battleship was underway , after travelling the forty miles from Toulon to the Isles d ' Hyères . " Gustave Zédé " was commanded by Lieutenant Lucian Mottez . This was the first recorded successful attack by a submerged submarine using torpedoes against a surface target and was widely reported in naval circles . The British Naval Attaché reported that " Gustave Zédé " was observed approaching the " Magenta " at a speed of 10 knots and a distance of 3 , 500 yards with four men on the bridge . The submarine then submerged until only the conning tower was visible . At 1 , 500 yards the conning tower had disappeared but some wash from the screw could be observed . The boat then submerged to a depth of ten feet . At 450 yards the ship came to the surface momentarily to check his distance and course , before diving again and firing a torpedo at a range of 270 yards , striking " Magenta " amidships . The submarine passed under the ship and resurfaced on the opposite side . The exercise was repeated early in 1899 in front of the French Minister of Marine and invited journalists . The successful demonstration resulted in further funding to purchase more submarines for the French Navy . Construction . The ships principal constructor was Gaston Romazzotti who took control of the project after the death of Zédé in 1891 . Construction and development took ten years , in part because interest in submarines in the French Navy came and went with the changing policies of different ministers of marine , and because of ongoing development of the design during this time . The hull was made of bronze rather than steel to resist corrosion , which also allowed a magnetic compass to operate inside . It had a different profile fore and aft , unlike other submarines at this time which tended to be the same shape either end . Seventy - six longitudinal round ribs provided the strength of the hull . The boat had two centrally placed ballast tanks and trimming tanks at either end . Electric pumps were used to redistribute the water . There was a detachable central lead keel . The ship was initially fitted with manually operated diving rudder at the stern as in the design of , but proved difficult to maintain level or on a steady incline while diving or rising . Hydraulic hydroplanes were therefore added at the center of the ship and forwards . The ship was designed to dive to a depth of 50 ft . A periscope was fitted in the conning tower which gave a field of view 20° above and 7° below the horizon but the view was distorted and of limited use . The boat was electrically driven with power supplied by a bank of batteries . Two 360 hp Sauter - Harlé DC electric motors were coupled to the single propeller drive shaft operating at 250 rpm . Together the motors weighed 27 tons . The original Laurant - Celvieva battery configuration was of 720 cells weighing 130 tons capable of delivering 1800 $ 4 at 300 $ 4 . The battery system exploded on first charging causing a fire , so a new layout of only 360 cells was installed . This led to a significant reduction of surface speed from 15 to 8 knots . The boat had no alternative power source on board which could be used to recharge the batteries , unlike other contemporary designs such as the Holland VI design which had a petrol engine as well as batteries . Commanding officers . The boat was successively commanded by :