Her sister ship, Malplaquet - named after a battle between Britain and France during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1709 - was renamed Jutland just prior to her launch on 20 February 1946, and was commissioned on 30 July 1947.

In April 1947 she was assigned to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet, September 1948, Jutland, in company with the two aircraft carriers HMS Theseus and HMS Vengeance, as well as two of her sister ships and a frigate, deployed on a cruise mainly to South Africa, visiting a number of ports on the way.

After the group's visit to South Africa, they performed a number of naval exercises before returning to the UK in December.

In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II[2] and was subsequently placed in Reserve, along with a number of her sister ships.

The following year, during a daytime exercise off Malta, Jutland collided with her sister ship HMS Dunkirk, causing minor damage.