Gorgone was one of three s built for the French Navy during World War I. Completed in 1916, she deployed to the Adriatic Sea until November 1917 during the war.

Design and description The Bellone class was built as part of the French Navy's 1912 building program,Smigielski, p. 211 intended as enlarged and faster versions of the . The boats displaced surfaced and submerged. They had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draft of . The crew numbered 28 officers and crewmen.Roberts, p. 451

For surface running, the Bellones were powered by a pair of six-cylinder, two-cycle diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. The engines were provided by two different manufacturers and were intended to produce a total of , but were generally only capable of about . During her sister 's sea trials on 12 September 1916, her Chaléassière engines only produced , enough for a speed of rather than the designed . The Sulzer engines were equally troublesome with Gorgones captain stating that his boat's engines should not be pushed past on 5 December 1918. The boats were generally capable of on the surface in service. When submerged each shaft was driven by a electric motor. The designed speed underwater was . The Bellones carried enough fuel oil to give them a surface endurance of at . Their designed submerged endurance was at .

The Bellone-class boats were armed with a total of eight torpedoes. Two of these were positioned in the bow in internal tubes angled outwards 5° 45'. Four other were located in external rotating torpedo launchers, two on each broadside that could traverse 100–120 degrees to the side of the boats. Two more torpedoes were located in external launchers at the stern angled 5° 10' outwards. The boats were also equipped with a Mle 1897G deck gun aft of the conning tower.Garier 2000, p. 56

Construction and career Gorgone was ordered on 3 October 1912 and was laid down at the Arsenal de Toulon on 2 June 1917. She was launched on 23 November 1915 and commissioned on 12 October 1916. The boat was deployed to the Adriatic theater from December to November 1917.Roberts, p. 451

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