Commissioned on 9 February 1968 and decommissioned on 9 March 1990, Stalwart served as a destroyer tender, the RAN flagship, and a training vessel during her career.

[2][3] This was the largest displacement of any ship operated by the RAN to that point, except for the two Majestic-class aircraft carriers and the battlecruiser HMAS Australia.

[4] The size of the ship's company varies between sources: Cassells states a complement of 396, while the RAN website gives 25 officers and 392 sailors.

[3] She carried several nicknames, including "Building 215" (referring to the fact that, when not deployed, she was always secured to the same buoy just off HMAS Kuttabul at Sydney), "The Mighty 'Wart", and "Battlestar".

[6] On 22 October 1985, while en route from Darwin to Indonesia, a combination of cleaning chemicals and the contents of the ship's sullage tanks caused hydrogen sulfide gas to form.

[7] 62 people had to be evacuated to Darwin by helicopter after inhaling the gas, and 3 were killed; one was posthumously awarded the Bravery Medal for his actions during the incident.

[8] She sailed on 4 December to Macquarie Island, and successfully transferred the relief team and supplies, receiving 33 men for transport back to Australia.

[2] During the late 1980s, the ship focused less on her role as a maintenance vessel (primarily because the United States-designed vessels entering service were easier to self-maintain at shore facilities), and more on her role as Flagship, by sending most of her maintenance personnel ashore and hosting the staff of the Flag Officer Commanding Australian Fleet and the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Band.

[2] From 15 January 1989, Stalwart began scaling down her ship's company and operations; the extra space for personnel and the superior facilities on board saw her transferred to the training squadron.