She was launched on 21 December 1942 at the Cammell Laird shipyard at Birkenhead and commissioned on 18 July 1944.

After a period of working up with ships of the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow she joined the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet for screening duty and patrol on the North Western Approaches, including operations against the Tirpitz.

She escorted a number of Arctic convoys, and other operations in the North Sea and off the coast of Scandinavia.

As the war reached its end Zambesi was deployed with the Home Fleet to support operations to re-occupy countries previously under German occupation, and this included guardship duties.

Zambesi's bell was presented to St Cuthbert's Church in Portsmouth in 1959, where it still survives.