When Saintes first commissioned in 1946 she joined the 5th destroyer flotilla and was used to trial the new 4.5-inch Mk 6 twin turret which became the standard destroyer main armament until well into the 1970s [REF].
In 1954, whilst still in the Mediterranean, Saintes came to the assistance of the merchant vessel , which had suffered an engine room explosion and fire whilst carrying troops and their families home from the Far East.