The Herluf Trolle class was built in response to a naval construction program in neighboring Imperial Germany.

Because she was intended to operate as part of a solely defensive naval strategy, Herluf Trolle had a fairly uneventful career.

During World War I, Denmark remained neutral and Herluf Trolle was assigned to the defense forces that guarded Danish territorial waters.

In the early 1890s, the Germans had completed eight coastal defense ships of the Siegfried and Odin classes, prompting the Danish government to consider strengthening their fleet in 1894 in response.

[5] In August, Herluf Trolle visited Britain to represent Denmark at the fleet review for the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra.

[7] After returning home, Herluf Trolle resumed activities with the training squadron and later visited Karlskrona, Sweden.

Later that year, Herluf Trolle escorted the royal yacht Dannebrog, which was carrying Prince Carl of Denmark to Trondheim, Norway.

[5][8] After war broke out in August 1914, Denmark established the Sikringsstyrken (security force) to enforce its neutrality during the conflict.

The Danish fleet, which at that time consisted of Herluf Trolle and her two sisters, fifteen torpedo boats, seven submarines, and six mine-warfare vessels, employed a strategy of laying minefields in its territorial waters to prevent belligerent ships from entering.

The surface warships, including Herluf Trolle, patrolled the narrow and shallow waterways, where they would be difficult to attack in the event that Denmark was brought into the conflict.

The unit was disbanded the following month, and Herluf Trolle became the flagship of the winter training squadron that operated through March 1919.

[5] In the aftermath of World War I, the Danish naval budget was significantly reduced, which kept much of the fleet laid up due to a lack of funds.

[5] With no funds to maintain her, the Danish navy struck Herluf Trolle from the naval register on 30 April 1932 and sold her to be broken up for scrap in 1934.

During World War II, after Germany invaded Denmark in 1940, the Germans moved the 150 mm guns to Gniben.