On 5 August 2015, the ship emerged from the dry dock at Devonport Naval Base wearing the US Navy 'Haze Grey' coating, following a major systems upgrade which involved a long refit.

[5] As the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) was seeking to replace their River-class destroyer escorts with ships nearly identical to what the RNZN wanted, the two nations decided to collaborate on the acquisition in early 1987.

[11][12][13] However, the decision to buy the frigates had been highly controversial in New Zealand, primarily because of the cost of purchasing frigate-type ships, plus the idea that the high-capability warships would be too few and too overspecialised for the fisheries and economic exclusion zone (EEZ) patrols expected to be the RNZN's core operations.

[15][16] This option expired in 1997 without the New Zealanders acting upon it; there were proposals to buy a new or second-hand Anzac outside the terms of the original contract, but a lack of political support stopped this developing, and the number built for the RNZN remained at two.

[17] The drop in capability and the issue of tying up the Anzacs on EEZ patrols when they could be deployed more suitably elsewhere were factors leading to the RNZN's Project Protector acquisition program.

[18] The Anzacs are based on Blohm + Voss' MEKO 200 PN (or Vasco da Gama-class) frigates, modified to meet Australian and New Zealand specifications and maximise the use of locally built equipment.

[33] Te Mana deployed to the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman for a second time in 2004, again to undertake Maritime Interdiction Operations, as part of Combined Task Force 150.

In May the helicopter was damaged, at a cost of up to $4 million; a court of enquiry later found the pilot and co-pilot had failed to lash the aircraft down to the deck correctly.

Te Mana responded to the emergency call and sprinted to the scene, the ship's medic was flown over to the bulk carrier, but the patient was unable to be revived.

[36] Te Mana and HMNZS Endeavour were the first RNZN vessels to visit Russia, arriving in the Pacific port of Vladivostok on 10 June 2005 on a diplomatic mission.

[42] Sailing via Singapore, she arrived on 11 May 2008, beginning a three-month patrol of the region's waterways, including guarding against threats to the oil industry infrastructure,[43] as well to prevent smuggling and piracy.

At the time, the naval personnel and their family were stationed at an accommodation block 12 kilometers away from the Royal Canadian Navy's base at Esquimalt near Victoria, British Columbia.