Mallow was constructed by Barclay Curle at Glasgow in Scotland. She was launched on 13 July 1915.
During World War I, the sloop was tasked primarily with minesweeping. On 31 December 1915, Mallow picked up the bulk of the survivors of the passenger ship [1] (which had been torpedoed the day before off Crete) and conveyed them to Alexandria. In 1918, Mallow rescued the passengers of the French mailboat, including future acting Governor-General of Madagascar Joseph Guyon, after the mailboat was torpedoed by a German U-boat. Mallow later received letters of commendation from the Admiralty and Guyon.
The sloop was transferred to the RAN in 1919.
Mallow paid off to reserve on 18 October 1919, was decommissioned on 20 November 1925, and sunk as a target on 24 April 1935.