She was 'adopted' by the civil community of Doncaster, replacing the destroyer HMS Lightning (sunk in 1943), which had originally been adopted during Warship Week in 1942.

The Z-class were War Emergency Programme destroyers, intended for general duties, including use as anti-submarine escort, and were to be suitable for mass-production.

[11] As part of an offensive against German shipping (and in particular ships carrying Iron ore) passing through Norwegian coastal waters,[12] Zephyr screened the escort carriers Campania and Trumpeter as their aircraft laid mines near Ålesund and attacked German-operated radio stations from 24 October to 4 November 1944.

[11][14] On 14 December Zephyr was part of the escort for the carriers Premier and Trumpeter and the cruiser Devonshire when the force was spotted by a German reconnaissance aircraft.

[15] During anti-submarine operations on 31 December 1944 Zephyr was damaged in an explosion off of the Pentland Firth, due to either a torpedo from the submarine U-1020,[11][16] or a mine.

The convoy was not attacked during its journey to Russia, but there was a strong force of U-boats off the entrance to the Kola Inlet, where sonar conditions made the submarines difficult to detect.

[22][23] As the war reached its end Zephyr stopped at Copenhagen with other Royal Navy ships on 9 May to accept the surrender of a number of German warships, including the cruiser Prinz Eugen.

[11][24] Zephyr was refitted at Portsmouth from 23 July to 8 September, having her fire control director tower fitted, and took part in Operation Deadlight, the scuttling of surrendered German U-boats in November–December 1945.

It was planned to convert Zephyr to a Type 15 frigate, but this was cancelled due to the poor physical condition of the ship, with extensive corrosion.

[26] Zephyr was transferred to BISCO for disposal on 27 June 1958, and arrived at the shipbreaking company Clayton and Davie's yard at Dunston on 2 July 1958 for scrapping.