In commission from to , she served in the Mediterranean and Eastern Fleets , seeing active service in the Korean War. The ship was originally ordered from Harland and Wolff , Belfast , on 2 May as the Loch-class frigate Loch Achilty , and was laid down on 2 May However the contract was then changed, and the ship was completed to a revised design as a Bay-class anti-aircraft frigate.
Admiralty Job No. In July she sailed for Malta , but the proposed deployment in the Pacific was cancelled in August and she was reallocated to the 5th Escort Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet. There her duties included weather ship and air sea rescue duties in the western Atlantic during U. S aircraft troop repatriation flights in late November , patrol duty in the Aegean, Adriatic, and Red Seas, and periods as Guardship at Alexandria , Trieste , and Aqaba , as well as attachment to the Haifa Patrol, attempting to intercept ships carrying illegal Jewish immigrants to Palestine.
In May her pennant number was changed from K to F Her duties at Hong Kong included Guardship duty in the Yangtze, surveillance of Chinese Nationalist warship movements, and patrols to support military operations against insurgent forces in Malaya. She was deployed off the west coast of Korea and supported the evacuation of Incheon.
In December she took part in bombardment operations on the Han River , returning to Hong Kong in January to continue supporting operations in Malaya. Pierce after she was damaged by 75 mm shore battery fire off Songjin. She returned to Hong Kong for flotilla duties in November, and in April began her fourth Korean tour, deployed for military support off the east coast.
After a refit at Hong Kong St Brides Bay resumed her usual duties; local and fleet exercises, patrols in the Formosa Straits, and further patrols off Korea, serving as Guardship at Pangyaengo Do off the east coast. Frequent exercises were carried out with ships of the United States, Australian and New Zealand navies.
