 In 1910, the Navy contracted with Whitehead & Co. of Fiume for the class' namesake boat, , to be built by Whitehead, and plans for a second, , to be built at the Copenhagen Navy Yard.In May 1911, while the first two were still under construction, the Navy ordered two more boats from Whitehead, and , and plans for a final two, and .The "Havmanden"-class boats were submarines that displaced surfaced and submerged.