[2] Ariadne was laid down at Yarrow's Scotstoun shipyard on 1 November 1969,[2][3][4] and was launched on 10 September 1971 and completed on 10 February 1973,[4] commissioning on 2 March 1973 at Devonport.

[6] Like the rest of the Leander class, she was named after a figure of Greek mythology; Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete.

A single Sea Cat surface-to-air missile launcher was fitted aft (on the Helicopter hangar roof), while two Oerlikon 20mm cannon provided close-in defence.

[15] From January to October 1974, Ariadne in company with the guided missile destroyer Fife (FOF2 embarked), Apollo, Argonaut, Danae, Londonderry and Scylla supported by oilers Tidespring and Tidereach and the stores ship Tarbatness, made a nine-month deployment to the Far East, visiting Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, South Africa and Gibraltar.

In 1976, Ariadne completed a refit at Devonport,[5] and the following year took part in the annual group deployment, visiting a variety of ports in South America and West Africa, as well as performing naval exercises.

[19] From May to August 1979, Ariadne served as part of Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT), a NATO multi-national squadron.

[5] Ariadne was intended for modernisation, which would have included the removal of her one 4.5-in Mk.6 gun, which would have been replaced by the Exocet anti-ship missile, as well as the addition of the Sea Wolf missile, but the 1981 Defence Review by the defence minister John Nott, cancelled the modernisation for Ariadne and other Batch III Leander-class frigates.

Ariadne came out of refit in Rosyth Dockyard, Fife, Scotland in 1989 and replaced HMS Juno in the Dartmouth Training Squadron.