 Grafton was laid down by John I. Thornycroft & Company , at Woolston , Hampshire on 30 August 1934 , launched on 18 September 1935 and completed on 20 March 1936 . Excluding government @-@ furnished equipment like the armament , the ship cost £ 248 @,@ 485 . Aside from a brief period when she was assigned to the 20th Destroyer Flotilla after her commissioning , Grafton spent the prewar period assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla with the Mediterranean Fleet . Between 10 August and 9 September 1936 , she escorted the yacht <unk> as King Edward VIII cruised the eastern Mediterranean . Afterwards Grafton patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War enforcing the policies of the Non @-@ Intervention Committee . The ship was refitting in Malta when World War II began in September 1939 . 
