Escopette was ordered from Arsenal de Rochefort on 8 June 1899 and was laid down on 9 April 1900. The ship was launched on 20 December 1900 and conducted her sea trials from June 1902 to January 1903. She was commissioned on 26 January and assigned to the Northern Squadron.[1]
When the First World War began in August 1914, Escopette was one of the leaders (divisionnaire) in the 2nd Submarine Flotilla (2e escadrille sous-marins) of the 2nd Light Squadron (2e escadre légère) based at Calais.[2]
Prévoteaux, Gérard (2017). La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome I 1914–1915 [The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book I 1914–1915]. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. Vol. 23. Le Vigen, France: Éditions Lela presse. ISBN978-2-37468-000-2.
Prévoteaux, Gérard (2017). La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome II 1916–1918 [The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book II 1916–1918]. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. Vol. 27. Le Vigen, France: Éditions Lela presse. ISBN978-2-37468-001-9.
Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN0-7110-0445-5.
Roberts, Stephen S. (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-5267-4533-0.