"Rothesay" was laid down at Yarrow's Scotstoun dockyard on 6 November 1956, was launched on 9 December 1957 by Audrey Douglas-Hamilton, wide of George Douglas-Hamilton, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and completed on 23 April 1960.From 1966 to 1968 "Rothesay" underwent a major modernisation, which brought the ship close in capacity to the .