Originally designated as a flotilla leader in the Deckers Fleet Plan of 1931,[1] Tromp was ordered in 1935 and laid down at the Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (Netherlands Shipbuilding Company), in Amsterdam, on 17 January 1936.

Powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, with four Yarrow boilers that drove two shafts and produced 56,000 shp (41,759 kW), she was capable of achieving a maximum speed of 32.5 knots (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h).

She returned to the Netherlands in April to take part in the fleet review at Scheveningen, before participating in a cruise to Norway, where she stopped over at Oslo.

Doorman and under Termijtelen's command the ship sailed for the Netherlands East Indies in August 1939, arriving just after the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

In the final months of 1941, tensions in the region began to heighten amidst concerns about war with Japan and in November 1941 Tromp was involved in searches of Vichy French merchant vessels operating in the area.

[4] In late November and early December 1941, Tromp moved to the western Java Sea to help search for HMAS Sydney, which was missing after encountering the German raider Kormoran.

[5] Following the outbreak of fighting against the Japanese in the Pacific, she was assigned to the Combined Striking Force, ABDA Command, in January 1942 for the defence of the East Indies.

Tromp was badly damaged off Bali on 18 February 1942 during the Battle of Badung Strait, when she was hit by eleven 5-inch (127 mm) shells from the Japanese destroyer Asashio.

[4] In February 1943, while based out of Fremantle, Tromp was assigned to the US Seventh Fleet, tasked with conducting convoy escort around Australia and in the Indian Ocean.

[13] Following the end of the hostilities, Tromp was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet and in September 1945 deployed to Jakarta where she landed marines who re-occupied the governor's residence as Allied forces arrived to disarm the Japanese garrison.