500 long tons (510 t) of oil was carried, giving a radius of 3,850 nmi (4,430 mi; 7,130 km) at 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h).

[10] The ship was one of eight destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty on 3 September 1939 as part of the 1st Emergency Flotilla,[11] at a contract price of £410,872 (excluding government provided equipment such as armament).

[22] Heavy losses to German submarine attacks in March resulted in destroyers being detached from the home Fleet and attached to Western Approaches Command, to be used to form new Escort Groups to provide additional support to convoys being attacked by enemy submarines, with Orwell joining the 3rd Escort Group.

[16] Late that month, Orwell, as part of Escort Group 10,[b] reinforced the westbound Convoy ONS 19 as it passed to the north of the large wolfpack of German submarines, Rossbach,[27] and then transferred to strengthen the escort of eastbound Convoy SC 143 as it approached the Rossbach wolfpack.

Orwell and the destroyers Oribi and Musketeer, picked up the survivors from U-643, sunk by RAF Liberator aircraft on 8 October.

[28][29][30] Later that month, Orwell, together with the American cruiser USS Tuscaloosa and destroyer USS Fitch and the British destroyers Oribi and Onslaught, took part in Operation FQ, the relief of the survivors of the garrison on Svalbard after the German attack, arriving at Svalbard on 19 October.

[35] On 23 April 1944, the 17th Flotilla, including Orwell, deployed to Plymouth to prepare for the upcoming Allied invasion of France.

Orwell and sister-ship Offa clashed with the withdrawing S-boats after the attack, but the German boats managed to escape unharmed behind a smoke-screen.

[36][39] Orwell remained on duties protecting the Normandy beachhead and invasion traffic until September, when she rejoined the Home Fleet.

They attacked a German convoy off Egersund, sinking the minesweeper M-273 and shelling the merchant ships Bahia Camarones and Charlotte, which were abandoned and sank.

[36][43] On 6 February, Orwell joined Arctic Convoy JW 64, which came under heavy air and submarine attack, with Onslow claiming one German aircraft shot down on 10 February (in total 13 German aircraft were claimed by the convoy's defences), while the corvette Denbigh Castle was sunk by U-992.

[47] German U-boats waiting off the entrance to Kola Bay were difficult to counter, as acoustic conditions made detection difficult, and agreement was made between Britain and the Soviet Union to lay a deep minefield in the approaches to Kola Bay, so that surface ships would be unaffected, but deeply submerged submarines avoiding detection would be caught.

[48][49] In February 1946 Orwell relieved the destroyer Zetland on torpedo training and experimental duties as a member of the Portsmouth local flotilla.

[52] In 1949–50 the destroyer underwent a refit at the shipyard of J. Samuel White at Cowes on the Isle of Wight,[50][53] and from March 1950 was held at Category C reserve at Chatham.

[54][50][d] In 1952 she was converted to a Type 16 frigate at Rosyth Dockyard, recommissioning on 26 January 1953, and joining the Plymouth local flotilla.

[56] On 29 July 1956, the sail training ship Moyana got into difficulties in severe weather in the English Channel, and sent out distress signals.