She was laid down in 1930 at Chatham Dockyard and built in a dry dock, before being moved to Portsmouth for completion and commissioning on 15 March 1932.

On 23 September 1932, she struck a rock 6 nautical miles (11 km) north of Ford's Harbour, Labrador, in the Dominion of Newfoundland (56°28′30″N 61°10′00″W / 56.47500°N 61.16667°W / 56.47500; -61.16667) and was beached.

[2][3] In June and July 1941 she and three Flower-class corvettes escorted the troop ship Anselm from Britain en route for Freetown, Sierra Leone.

In December 1947 men from Challenger and from the two destroyers Cockade and Contest were landed in Aden in an attempt to restore order following anti-Jewish rioting.

[6] It was on this mission in 1951 that Challenger surveyed the Mariana Trench near Guam, identifying the deepest known point in the oceans, 11,033 metres (36,198 ft) deep at its maximum, near 11°21′N 142°12′E / 11.350°N 142.200°E / 11.350; 142.200.