Initially serving as part of the destroyer escort screen for capital ships, Savage joined Operation Camera off the Norwegian coast, an unsuccessful diversionary expedition to distract the enemy from the invasion of Sicily, and escorted King George V from Gibraltar to Scapa Flow.

[1] The S class were War Emergency Programme destroyers, intended for general duties, including use as anti-submarine escort, and were to be suitable for mass-production.

They were based on the hull and machinery of the pre-war J-class destroyers, but with a lighter armament in order to speed production.

[6] Savage was laid down by R&W Hawthorn, Leslie & Co, Hebburn, Newcastle upon Tyne, on 7 December 1941 and was launched on 24 September 1942.

[14] After completion, Savage joined the aircraft carrier Furious and the battleships Alabama, Anson, Duke of York, Malaya and South Dakota in Operation Camera, a diversionary manoeuvre off the Norwegian coast to distract German forces from the Allied invasion of Sicily.

Subsequently, on 25 July, Savage escorted the aircraft carriers Illustrious and Unicorn on Operation Governor, an offensive sweep off Norway.

[16] At the end of the war, on 12 May 1945, Savage escorted the 1st Cruiser Squadron led by Devonshire that returned Crown Prince Olav to Norway.

Savage and the rest of heavy force intercepted the German vessel as she was heading away after unsuccessfully attacking the convoy.

Duke of York fired star shells which illuminated the warship and the four destroyers in the screen, Saumarez, Savage, Scorpion, and the Norwegian Stord, attacked with torpedoes.

[14] Reduced to Reserve status at Chatham in 1948, the ship was recommissioned for trials using new designs of shafts and propellers in 1950.