The fourth Somerset to serve in the Royal Navy, she has inherited four battle honours from previous ships of the name; Vigo Bay (1702), Velez Malaga (1704), Louisburg (1758) and Quebec (1759).

The ship has the Freedom of the City of Wells and is also affiliated with the County of Somerset, the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, the 2nd and 4th Battalions of The Rifles (inherited from affiliation with the Royal Green Jackets), TS Weston and TS Queen Elizabeth Sea Cadet Units, Downside, Baytree and Helles Schools, Bridgwater College and the Somerset Legion House of The Royal British Legion.

[9] In 2007, the first at-sea firing trials of the UK Royal Navy's new 30mm DS30M Mark 2 Automated Small Calibre Gun system were completed by Somerset.

[10] On 18 February 2009, Somerset sailed from Devonport as part of the Taurus 09 deployment under Commander UK Amphibious Task Group, Commodore Peter Hudson.

[19] In March 2016, as the Russian destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov, a tanker and a tug entered the United Kingdom's exclusive economic zone, they were intercepted and escorted by Somerset.

[27][28] Somerset was to be the first Royal Navy ship to be fitted with Naval Strike Missiles and the removal of the obsolete Harpoon racks and blast deflectors was completed in January 2023.

[32] She reportedly suffered a further breakdown in February 2024 delaying both her return to active operations as well as the testing of NSM for deployment with the Royal Navy.

[34] On the 22nd January 2025 the UK Defence Secretary, John Healey, announced that Somerset had been deployed to monitor Russian undersea reconnaissance ship Yantar following her passing through British waters in the North Sea.