Her design was based upon the existing Ton-class minesweepers, and she was fitted with equipment recovered from the scrapped HMS Derriton.

On commissioning, Wilton joined the 2nd Mine Counter Measures Squadron (2nd MCMS) based at Portsmouth.

In November that year, Wilton rejoined 2nd MCMS, interrupting her service with that squadron to be seconded to NATO's Standing Naval Force Channel (STANAVFORCHAN) in 1977 and 1980.

On 31 August 1979 Wilton was involved in an accident when she collided with BNS Breydel off Ostende.

She was retired by the Royal Navy in 1994; she ended up in store until being sold in August 2001, when she was fitted out as the new home of the Essex Yacht Club at Leigh-on-Sea on the Thames Estuary.