The primary task of the fleet in the first period of its existence was to counter the power of the Hanseatic League and secure control in the Baltic Sea.

In this period it consisted of 45 ships of the line with an average of 60 guns, plus 20-40 frigates, large enough to counter the Royal Swedish Navy at the time.

The number of guns on the ships of the line was smaller, a feature only the Dano-Norwegian navy had- different from the average number of cannons mounted on warships of the great sea powers of the time but it was partly a deliberate decision of the admiralty, in order to make the ships able to navigate in the countless narrow waters around the Danish isles.

For the entire period of its existence its main base was Holmen in Copenhagen, but on different occasions smaller task forces was stationed in Fredriksvern in Norway and in Glückstadt.

The navy was for a large part funded by Norwegian means as a royal resolution dictated that the income from Norway was to be used towards its construction and upkeep[citation needed].