HMS Montrose was the eighth of the sixteen-ship Type 23 or Duke class of frigates, of the Royal Navy, named after the Duke of Montrose. She was laid down in November 1989 by Yarrow Shipbuilders on the Clyde, and was launched on 31 July 1992 by Edith Rifkind (later Lady Rifkind), wife of (later Sir) Malcolm Rifkind, Secretary of State for Defence. She was commissioned into service in June 1994.

Having once been the flagship of the 6th Frigate Squadron, Montrose became part of the Devonport Flotilla, based in Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth. In 2018, it was announced that Montrose would become the first Royal Navy frigate to be forward-deployed to the UK Naval Support Facility in Bahrain. The 2021 defence review announced that the ship would now be retired early, likely after her return to the U.K. from the Persian Gulf. She was deployed on maritime security operations in the Persian Gulf up to November 2022. On 5 January 2022 the frigate passed the 1,000-day milestone of days at sea and in November of that year departed the Persian Gulf to return to the U.K. ahead of her planned decommissioning, expected in spring 2023. She was subsequently decommissioned on 17 April 2023.

Deployments in the 1990s include her first trip to the South Atlantic, as Falkland Islands guardship, which ended in October 1996. Her first visit to the City of Dundee was in 1993. Several NATO deployments followed.

In early 2002, Montrose returned to the Falklands on the now-renamed Atlantic Patrol Task (South) deployment, during which divers from Montrose replaced the White Ensign on Antelope, which was sunk during the Falklands War. On her return from this deployment, she conducted her first refit period (RP1), which was completed in early January 2004.

In October 2004, Montrose was one of a number of ships dispatched to the rescue of the stricken Canadian submarine Chicoutimi (an ex-Royal Navy Upholder-class submarine) which had suffered a number of fires on board, causing casualties and the loss of power in the submarine. Montrose was the first Royal Navy vessel to make contact with the boat and assisted the submarine.

Montrose deployed in 2006 to the Persian Gulf on Operation Telic in the first half of 2006. After returning to the UK for personnel changes and maintenance, from 8 January to 27 July 2007, Montrose then deployed for seven months to the Mediterranean Sea as the UK contribution to the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2). As part of this group, she participated in NATO's Operation Active Endeavour (OAE), countering terrorist activity in the Mediterranean and preventing smuggling and other illegal activity. After Summer Leave, the ship headed to Scotland to take part in Exercise Neptune Warrior, and was visited there by Prince Michael of Kent, Honorary Rear Admiral of the Royal Naval Reserve, on 24 September 2007.

Following Operational Sea Training, Montrose deployed again to the Middle East on 12 March 2008 to join Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, operating in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. Activity in this deployment included Exercise Khunjar Haad, a multi-national exercise held in the Gulf of Oman in May, and working with Chatham, Edinburgh and RFA Argus the seizure of over 23 tonnes of illegal drugs including cocaine, hashish, amphetamines and opiates. She returned home on 3 October 2008, and after operating in UK waters, commenced a £15,000,000 upkeep package at Rosyth in early 2009.

This second refit package (RP2) included a number of major capability upgrades for the ship, including the first fitting of the Royal Navy's newest command system, DNA(2), and the replacement of the two old manually operated 30 mm guns with two 30 mm DS30M Mark 2 Guns. Having rejoined the ship on 20 July 2009, the crew conducted post-refits trials until January 2010, and Montrose was formally accepted back into the fleet on 11 February 2010.