[1][2] She was laid down at Hawthorn Leslie's Hebburn-on-Tyne shipyard on 4 October 1917, launched on 10 June 1918, commissioned on 29 August 1918 and completed on 14 September that year.

[8] The ship's machinery consisted of four Yarrow boilers that fed steam at 250 pounds per square inch (1,700 kPa) to two sets of Brown-Curtis single-reduction geared-steam turbines, rated at 43,000 shaft horsepower (32,000 kW).

[9] Up to 504 tons of oil fuel could be carried, giving a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

[13][14] In 1941[13] or 1942,[15] the 3-inch anti aircraft gun was moved aft to X-position, with two 20 mm Oerlikon autocannon were mounted on the ship's bridge wings.

[20] Montrose operated in the Black Sea during 1919–1920, during the Russian Civil War, taking part in the evacuation of soldiers and refugees from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk in April 1919.

[26][20] In May 1923, Montrose was part of a force, led by the battleship Iron Duke, with the cruiser Centaur and five more destroyers, that were ordered from Malta to the Dardanelles as hostilities between Greece and Turkey were feared to be about to restart, with the peace treaty negotiations at Lausanne threatening to break down.

[20] On 20 June 1927, Montrose led the destroyers of the 1st Flotilla as they escorted Renown as the battlecruiser left Malta carrying the Duke[d] and Duchess of York on their tour of the Commonwealth.

[20] On 4 December 1930, Montrose was recommissioned into the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, now part of Atlantic Fleet, serving as leader until June 1931, when she returned to reserve at Portsmouth.

[20] On the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Montrose was made leader of the 17th Destroyer Flotilla, based at Milford Haven and part of the Western Approaches Command,[20] and for the first few months back in active service was tasked with anti-submarine patrols and convoy escort in the East Atlantic.

[32][35] She was heading out on another run to Dunkirk early in the morning of 29 May when she collided in a fog bank with the tug Sun V, breaking the destroyer's stem.

[41] She worked up at Scapa Flow until November 1941,[20] In December 1941, the ship was detached from her flotilla to form part of the covering force for Operations Anklet and Archery, raids on Lofoten and Vågsøy in northern Norway.

[20] On 1 August 1942, Montrose was detached to the Home Fleet to replace destroyers sent to the Mediterranean for the important Malta Convoy, Operation Pedestal.

[45] On 1 February 1943, she left Scapa for the Nore Command,[46] resuming coastal patrols and convoy escort duties off the east coast of Britain.

[32] On the night of 17/18 February 1943, Montrose and the Hunt-class destroyer Garth were on patrol when they encountered several German E-boats that were laying a minefield off Lowestoft.