"Dalrymple" was commissioned for service on 10 February 1948 and after sea trials, sailed for the Mediterranean. She spent much of her career in the Persian Gulf, often with sister ship , as well as carrying our extensive surveys of the Grand Harbour at Valletta, the Malta Channel and the Strait of Sicily. She also spent some time in the Indian Ocean, mostly working around Zanzibar. During "Operation Musketeer" (the Suez invasion) in late 1956, she was deployed at Port Said, clearing obstructions from the Suez Canal.