[11] Chichester was laid down at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company's Govan shipyard on 26 June 1953,[9][12] as Yard number 771.

[15] On 10 September 1958, Chichester rescued the crew of the coaster Concha, which had caught fire off Milford Haven after an explosion in her engine room.

The frigate put a firefighting party aboard the blazing coaster, but despite these efforts the fire could not be contained and Concha sank while under tow by the tug Sheila.

[16][17] On 2 November 1958, Chichester, together with the cruiser Ceylon and the frigate Loch Fyne embarked British troops from Aqaba, Jordan.

[21] The election of the Labour Government in 1974 saw a further reduction of naval forces, east of Suez with the frigate being supplemented by five Ton Class minesweepers converted for Patrol duties, as the largest vessels maintaining a presence for protection of British interests.

Chichester left Hong Kong in the spring of 1976 to return to the UK, via Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands in response to RRS Shackleton being fired on by the Argentine destroyer ARA Almirante Storni.