[1][2] Broadsword was ordered on 2 April 1943 and was laid down on at Yarrows Scotstoun shipyard in Glasgow on 20 July 1944[3] The end of the Second World War meant that most of the class were cancelled, with the remaining four ships, including Broadsword having their armament fit revised to improve their anti-submarine capability.

After completion, the destroyer underwent a period of defect rectification, with an electronics workshop being fitted at Chatham Dockyard from November–December 1948.

[9] From September to December 1949, Broadsword was refitted at Chatham, and she had her sonar and electrical systems repaired at Portsmouth during April–May 1950.

[8] In 1957 all of the Weapon class were taken into refit and conversion to re-equip them as radar pickets, to supplement the new Salisbury-class frigates.

The conversion involved the removal of both sets of torpedo tubes and the erection of an additional lattice mast, which carried a large Type 965 Radar (AKE -1 aerial).

She re-commissioned in October 1958 and was then allocated to the 7th Destroyer Squadron serving in Home and Mediterranean waters until paying off in 1963.