"De Ruyter" was laid down by the Royal Netherlands Navy on 5 September 1939 as the cruiser HNLMS "De Zeven Provinciën" at the Wilton-Fijenoord shipyard at Schiedam. She and her sister-ship, later "", were intended to replace the two s in the Dutch East Indies. At the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 little had been constructed. The Kriegsmarine intended to complete her as the training cruiser "KH 1" but construction was slow and she was not launched until 24 December 1944, with the intent by then to use her as a blockship in the Nieuwe Waterweg, the approaches to Rotterdam.