The first sheet of Triomphant was cut at DCN Cherbourg in October 1986, and her engine was shipped to her from DCN Indret five years later. The reactor was built into the vessel in August 1991, with the fore and aft sections being welded on in January and April 1992 respectively. She was armed and given a commander in May 1992 and moved from the assembly site to the completion basin in July 1993. Her launch in March 1994 was followed by her first dive that June and her trip from DCN Cherbourg to lle Longue that July down the "free route" between Cherbourg and Brest, with a crew of 110 and engineers from DCN Cherbourg. On 4 January 1995, during testing, she reached her maximum depth for the first time and made her first firing of a ballistic missile the following month. Photographs of her w