The ship was armed with two 25 cm (9.8 in) guns provided by the French manufacturer Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée.

In 1913, the warship accidentally sank the gunboat Urd and was taken out of service the following year to be updated with new boilers and an upgraded armament.

Oden was the lead of the Oden-class coastal defence ships, a development of the earlier Svea class mounting the same primary armament on a larger hull.

[2] A full load of 280 long tons (280 t) of coal was carried, which gave a design range of 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[4] After reconstruction in 1915, coal capacity was expanded to 300 long tons (300 t), which gave a design range of 2,530 nautical miles (4,690 km; 2,910 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and the complement increased to 254 officers and ratings.

[5] Armament consisted of two single Canet 25 cm (9.8 in) M1894 B guns mounted in turrets on the ship's centreline, one fore and the other aft.

[6] Secondary armament initially consisted of four Bofors 12 cm (4.7 in) guns mounted singularly in casemates amidships that could fire from 3 to 8 shots a minute at a muzzle velocity of 740 m/s (2,400 ft/s).

The ship was also armed with four single Bofors 5.7 cm (2.2 in) guns in casemates and two 8 mm (0.3 in) were mounted on the fighting mast.

[8] While taking part in exercises near Sandhamn on 17 September 1901 with other vessels of the Swedish Navy, Oden ran aground.

Despite that, damage to the ship's hull and torpedo tubes led to Oden returning to Stockholm for repairs.

Oden resumed service, and briefly provided support to Sweden's neutrality in the First World War.

[17] In the 1920s, the Navy had plans to rebuild the coastal defence ship as a seaplane carrier but instead the newer Dristigheten was converted.