The ships were designed by naval engineer William Reed, of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees, to have the endurance and anti-submarine capabilities of the Black Swan-class sloops, while being quick and cheap to build in civil dockyards using the machinery (e.g. reciprocating steam engines instead of turbines) and construction techniques pioneered in the building of the Flower-class corvettes.

She sailed from Blyth, Northumberland in May 1943 for Tobermory, to work-up before being sent to join a group on ocean escort of convoys.

On 25 June Dart sailed from the Firth of Clyde escorting a mixed convoy of small RN ships to the Mediterranean Station.

[4] The Germans had been chased out of Africa; the Allies had landed in Sicily and were fighting their way up Italy at this time.

[6] Dart was re-fitted at Malta and then, in April 1945, returned to Britain for the final phase of the U-boat War.

They were escorting a convoy between Ireland and the Pembrokeshire shore of Wales the night that hostilities were to cease at midnight 8 May 1945.