[6][5][a] Close-in anti-aircraft armament of one quadruple 2-pounder "pom-pom" mount together with four single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, with two on the bridge wings and two further aft abreast the searchlight platform.

[10] Paladin was laid down at John Brown's Clydebank shipyard on 22 July 1940, launched on 11 June 1941 and completed on 12 December of that year.

[11] Paladin was allocated to the Eastern Fleet which was then under the command of Admiral Sir James Somerville, leaving Greenock on 17 February 1942, arriving in Colombo via the Cape on 24 March, where she joined the 12th Destroyer Flotilla.

Paladin, together with the destroyer Panther and the cruiser Enterprise rescued 1122 survivors[b] from the two ships, many of whom were in the water for 30 hours in a shark-infested sea.

[12][17][18] Paladin, together with the cruisers Dido and Euryalus and the destroyers Pakenham, Javelin and Jervis, bombarded Mersa Matruh on 19 July 1942.

[20] Paladin also took part in other Mediterranean operations, including the passage of convoys to Malta from Egypt after the relief of the island in November, and providing anti-aircraft protection for Alexandria.

[12][21][22] From early 1943, the British intensified attempts to stop supply traffic from Italy to the German and Italian forces in North Africa, with operations including patrols by destroyers.

[12] In the early morning of 16 April 1943, Paladin and Pakenham were on a sweep in the Sicilian narrows when they met an Italian convoy with a close escort of two torpedo boats, Cigno and Cassiopea.

[32] On 26 November, Paladin, together with the cruiser Orion and the destroyers Teazer and Troubridge shelled targets north of the Garigliano river.

[36][34] Departing from Durban on 29 July, she returned to escort duties in the Indian Ocean, via Diego Suarez (Antsiranana), Madagascar and Dar es Salaam.

[47][48] In the last week of July, Paladin took part in Operation Livery, the object of which was removing mines near Phuket Island and the Malay Peninsula and bombarding appropriate targets.

[42] At the end of August, after the Japanese surrender, Paladin was included in the force that proceeded to Penang, which was occupied on 3 September 1945 in Operation Jurist.

[34][49][50] A platoon of crew members was sent ashore to help maintain order and prevent looting in George Town after the Japanese withdrawal.

[citation needed] Paladin left the East Indies Station in October 1945,[32] arriving in Portsmouth in November 1945 and was placed in reserve.

[53] Anti submarine armament consisted of two Squid ASW mortars, while a single quadruple 21-inch torpedo-tube mount was retained, giving an anti-surface ship capability, although the hoped for anti-submarine homing torpedoes failed to become available.

[56][57] On 10 January 1958, Paladin commissioned as part of the Nore Local Squadron,[34] with duties including fishery protection patrols near Iceland.

[58] The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh paid a state visit to the Netherlands in the royal yacht Britannia in March 1958, Paladin was one of the escorts for the passage to Amsterdam.