The ship, originally designated a "patrol gunboat," PG-193, was ordered by the United States Maritime Commission under a U.S. Navy contract as USS Pilford. She was reclassified as a "patrol frigate," PF-85, on 15 April 1943 and laid down by the Walsh-Kaiser Company at Providence, Rhode Island, on 14 September 1943. Intended for transfer to the United Kingdom, the ship was renamed Pitcairn by the British prior to launching and was launched on 15 October 1943.
Transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease on 6 July 1944, the ship was commissioned by the Royal Navy on 7 July 1944 as HMS Pitcairn (K589). She served on patrol and escort duty.
The United Kingdom returned Pitcairn to the U.S. Navy on 11 June 1946. She was stricken from the U.S. Naval Vessel Register on 3 July 1946 and transferred for disposal to the U.S. Maritime Commission, which sold her to the John J. Duane Company of Quincy, Massachusetts, on 5 November 1947 for scrapping.