git "thin" submodule clone to feed "describe"

Hi git list! long time no see! :-) Been missing you lots.

Do we currently have any means to clone _history_ but not _blobs_ of a repo, or some approximation thereof?

With a bit more context: If I have a top-level project using a couple dozen submodules, where the submodules are huge, do I have a git-native means of running git-describe on each submodule without pulling the whole thing down?

In this context, most developers want to get full checkout of some submodules, but not of all; and 'git describe' of the submodules is needed to 'shim' the missing submodules appropriately.

If the answer is no, there's a bunch of ways I can carry that as extra data in the top level project. It's possible, yet inelegant & duplicative.

thanks,

martin