She spent most of her wartime career based at Gibraltar, engaged in convoy defence, but also served in various naval and military operations in the Mediterranean Sea.

The pace of her construction slowed after the Armistice with Germany brought World War I to an end on 11 November 1918, but she was launched on 18 July 1919 and completed in June 1920.

[1] Wishart was in waters off China when the United States Navy gunboat USS Fulton (PG-49) was heavily damaged by fire while at sea on 14 March 1934.

[3] The United States Department of the Navy later passed thanks to British naval authorities for the assistance Wishart and Whitshed provided to Fulton and her crew.

[4] When the United Kingdom entered World War II in September 1939, Wishart was stationed at Gibraltar, tasked with contraband control duties and trade defence in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean.

Wishart then remained with Force H as the aircraft carrier Ark Royal launched airstrikes against Italian airfields at Cagliari on Sardinia on 2 August 1940.

[1] In September 1940, Wishart returned to her convoy duties at Gibraltar, but she returned to Force H on 7 November 1940 as part of the escort for forces covering the passage of the battleship Barham, the heavy cruiser Berwick, the light cruiser Glasgow, and the destroyers Encounter, Gallant, Greyhound, and Griffin during their passage to Alexandria, Egypt, to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet there in Operation Coat.

[1][2] In July 1941, Wishart returned to the United Kingdom for refit and conversion into a long-range escort, and she was in shipyard hands for the rest of the year.

[1] Upon completing her refit and conversion, Wishart passed her acceptance trials in January 1942 and in February 1942 – the month in which the civil community of Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales, "adopted" her as the result of a Warship Week National Savings campaign – proceeded to Gibraltar.

She continued on such duties until 10 August 1942, when she again detached from them to take part in Operation Pedestal as a part of Force Z, supporting another Malta-bound convoy by joining Antelope, Ithuriel, and the destroyers Laforey, Lightning, and Lookout as the screen for the convoy's covering force, consisting of the aircraft carriers Eagle, Indomitable, and Victorious, the battleships Nelson and Rodney, and the light cruisers Charybdis, Phoebe and Sirius.

She again left these duties on 28 October 1942 to take part in Operation Train, joining the light cruiser Aurora and the destroyers Achates, Bramham, Cowdray, Vanoc, Verity, and Westcott and the Polish Navy destroyer ORP Błyskawica in covering the aircraft carrier Furious as Furious made the final aircraft delivery run to Malta.

[1][5] During the first half of 1943, Wishart continued her convoy escort duties at Gibraltar but also supported Allied military operations ashore in North Africa.

On 19 May 1943 she mistook the Free French Naval Forces submarine La Vestal for a German U-boat in darkness in the Mediterranean Sea and attacked her.

[1][2][7] Wishart remained on convoy defence duty at Gibraltar until January 1945, when the Royal Navy decided to withdraw her from service and she steamed to the United Kingdom for deactivation.

The ship arrived at the shipbreaker's yard under tow sometime after the armistice with Japan brought World War II to a close on 15 August 1945.