She was acquired from the Royal Navy, where she served in World War II as HMS Nigeria.

The ship's motto Na bibheti kadachana was taken from the Taittiriya Upanishad.

In 1971 she served as the flagship of the Western Fleet of the Indian Navy and commanded the missile attack on Karachi harbour in December 1971.

Later in her life from 1975 onwards Mysore served as a training cruiser for naval cadets.

Mysore appears in the 2016 Bollywood movie Rustom, which was based loosely on the popular K. M. Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra case of the 1960s.