"Niels Juel" was extensively modernized in the mid-1930s and remained operational after Nazi Germany occupied Denmark in 1940. When the Germans attempted to seize the Danish Fleet in August 1943, the ship attempted to escape to Sweden, but was attacked and damaged by German bombers. She was deliberately run aground by her crew to deny the ship to the Germans, but "Niels Juel" was not badly damaged. The ship was refloated several months later and repaired by the Germans. They renamed her "Nordland" and used her as a training ship. She was scuttled by them in May 1945 and her wreck was salvaged in 1952.