After service in World War II, she was sold to the Royal New Zealand Navy and renamed HMNZS Kaniere (F426) in September 1948.

[1] In September 1945 Loch Achray joined the East Indies Escort Force in the Indian Ocean in supporting military operations and assisting with returning liberated prisoners of the Japanese to Singapore.

Kaniere was commissioned in Portsmouth, England on 27 September 1948, and arrived in Auckland, New Zealand in January 1949, joining the 11th Frigate Flotilla.

[1] Recommissioned in November 1952, she joined the United Nations Naval Task Group based at Sasebo, carrying out her first patrol along the west coast of Korea in April 1953.

In September the warship joined the 3rd Frigate Squadron, Far East Fleet, based at Singapore, as part of the Commonwealth Strategic Reserve.