Royal Navy Service
She was finally commissioned on 16 May 1973 into the Royal Navy as HMS Mermaid with a pennant number of F76 and after working up, was dispatched to the Far East where she was based at Singapore. Her light armament and minimal sensor fittings made her unsuitable for a role in the European environment but could provide a useful presence in the Far East, undertaking what is now known as 'defence diplomacy' roles. She stood in for HMS Chichester (the guardship for Hong Kong) at times and stood by at the end of the Vietnam War in case British nationals had to be evacuated from Saigon.
Upon returning home she was involved in an unfortunate collision with the minesweeper HMS Fittleton during a NATO exercise that resulted in the Fittleton's sinking and the deaths of a number of the RNR crew. The Mermaid was used to protect UK trawlers during one of the Cod Wars with Iceland in the 1970s over fishing rights. The frigate and the Icelandic gunboat Baldur came into close contact on the high seas.
After being paid off she helped to conduct trials on a moving target indicator system that helped radar to pick out targets moving against the clutter generated by the surface of the sea.
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