[3] The ship was laid down by J. Samuel White and Company Limited at their shipyard in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, on 6 February 1941.

[1] From October 1942, Quickmatch operated as a convoy escort vessel; initially in British waters, then in the South Atlantic, then in the Indian Ocean.

[2] Shortly after, the destroyer formed part of the carrier screen during Operation Transom, an air raid on Japanese-held Surabaya.

[2] The ship received six battle honours for her wartime service: "English Channel 1942", "Atlantic 1943", "Indian Ocean 1943–44", "Sabang 1944", "Pacific 1944–45", and "Okinawa 1945".

[4][5] Over the following years, Quickmatch made several deployments to Japanese and Korean waters, with the rest of her time spent operating around Australia.

[6] In 1957, Quickmatch operated in support of British Commonwealth forces deployed during the Malayan Emergency, for which she was later awarded her seventh battle honour, "Malaya 1957".

[4][5] Quickmatch, along with HMS Cavendish rescued survivors when the stores vessel HMAS Woomera exploded and sank off Sydney Heads on 11 October 1960.

After paying off she served as an accommodation ship until she was sold for scrap to the Fujita Salvage Company Limited of Osaka in Japan on 15 February 1972.