Being the third ship in the Type 23 class, Lancaster was originally allocated the pennant number F232 until it was noted that the 232 is the Royal Navy report form for groundings and collisions and therefore considered unlucky.

[21] In 1994, Lancaster deployed on a nine-month mission to the Caribbean Sea, and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, During this time she acted as guardship for the royal yacht HMY Britannia, conducted anti-drug smuggling operations and sonar trials.

In February 2010 Lancaster was deployed in waters off the Horn of Africa as part of Combined Task Force 150, tackling piracy, drug-running, people trafficking, arms smuggling, and other criminal and terrorist threats.

[28] In July to August 2013, she was on a counter-narcotics mission in the Caribbean, seizing a 680-kilogram (1,500 lb) haul of cocaine with an estimated street value of £100 million after sailors and an embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment boarded a speedboat near Puerto Rico.

[32] Between 12 and 16 October 2015 Lancaster and RFA Gold Rover participated in the bicentennial anniversary commemorations of Napoleon's arrival on Saint Helena after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, and subsequent surrender to British forces.

Lancaster underwent a life extension refit (LIFEX) at HMNB Devonport from 2017 to 2019 which included fitting of the Artisan 3D radar, Sea Ceptor anti-air missiles and strengthening the backbone of the ship.

[40] Late in the month, Lancaster was diverted, at least temporarily, to shadow the Russian cruiser Marshal Ustinov and the destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov as they manoeuvred in the vicinity of the British Isles.