"Quality" was laid down by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited at their Wallsend-on-Tyne shipyard on 10 October 1940. The destroyer was launched by the wife of the shipyard overseer on 6 October 1941. The destroyer was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 7 September 1942. Although commissioned as a Royal Navy vessel, a large portion of the ship's company were on loan from the RAN. Like all ships in the class, "Quality" was given a name starting with "Q": the ship's badge depicts an ingot of gold stamped with the Hallmarks of Quality from the assay offices at London and Edinburgh.