Although principally employed for the use as a yacht by the CinC, Surprise was also deployed in its operational role as an anti-aircraft frigate and was allocated to the Haifa Patrol for a brief period in 1948.

[1] The ship was originally ordered from the Smiths Dock Company of South Bank, Middlesbrough on 25 January 1943 as the Loch-class frigate Loch Carron.

However the contract was changed in 1944, and the ship was laid down as Admiralty Job No J4788 on 21 April 1944 to a revised design as a Bay-class anti-aircraft frigate.

She was launched on 14 March 1945 as Gerrans Bay, but after the end of the war the plans were changed again and the ship was converted to a Despatch Vessel for use by the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet.

As the Royal Yacht Britannia was still under construction Surprise was selected for conversion for use by Queen Elizabeth II in the Coronation Review.