The ship was laid down on 28 May 1927 at the shipyard of Fijenoord in Rotterdam and launched on 11 September 1928. The ship was commissioned on 20 February 1930. 16 November 1935 Witte de With her sister and the cruiser made a visit to Saigon. On 23 August 1936 Sumatra, her sister and the destroyers Van Galen, Witte de With and where present at the fleet days held at Surabaya. Later that year on 13 November both Java-class cruisers and the destroyers Evertsen, Witte de With and Piet Hein made a fleet visit to Singapore. Before the visit they had practiced in the Chinese Sea.