Capitaine Mehl was one of a dozen s built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.
The Bouclier class were designed to a general specification and varied significantly from each other in various ways. The ships had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draft of . Designed to displace , they displaced at normal load. Their crew numbered 80âÂÂ83 men.
The ships were powered by a pair of Parsons steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four water-tube boilers. The engines were designed to produce which was intended to give the ships a speed of . Capitaine Mehl handily exceed that speed, reaching during her sea trials. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at cruising speeds of .
The primary armament of the Bouclier-class ships consisted of two Modèle 1893 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and four Modèle 1902 guns distributed amidships. They were also fitted with two twin mounts for torpedo tubes amidships.
During World War I, a or anti-aircraft gun, two machine guns, and eight or ten Guiraud-type depth charges were added to the ships. The extra weight severely overloaded the ships and reduced their operational speed to around .
Capitaine Mehl was ordered from Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire and was launched from its Saint-Nazaire shipyard on 20 April 1912. The ship was completed later that year.