Partridge was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at their Govan, Scotland shipyard, launching on 5 August 1941 and completing on 22 February 1942.

Partridge served mainly in the Mediterranean Sea during the war, taking part in the Malta convoy Harpoon in June 1942.

[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] The ship was ordered as part of the Second Emergency Flotilla on 2 October 1939,[11] at a contract price of £404,046 (excluding government provided equipment such as armament),[3] and was laid down at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company's Govan shipyard on 3 June 1940, was launched on 5 August 1941 and completed on 22 February 1942 with the Pennant number G30.

[12][13] After commissioning and workup, Partridge was deployed to Gibraltar in April 1942, and was attached to Force H.[14] She was part of the escort for the American aircraft carrier USS Wasp in Operation Calendar, during which 47 Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft were flown off Wasp on 20 April 1942 to reinforce the fighter defences of Malta.

[15] The requirement for reinforcement of Malta's defences continued, and 8–9 May Partridge was an escort in Operation Bowery, when Wasp and the British carrier Eagle flew off 64 Spitfires.

On 15 June, the air attacks on the remaining ships of the convoy continued, while at the same time, an Italian force of two cruisers (Raimondo Montecuccoli, Eugenio di Savoia) and five destroyers (Ascari, Alfredo Oriani, Lanzerotto Malocello, Premuda and Ugolino Vivaldi) attempted to attack the convoy.