She was assigned the new pennant number F159 and served in the Mediterranean as a part of the 5th Frigate Squadron until 1957. During this time she took part in Operation Musketeer, the Anglo-French assault on Port Said to take control of the Suez Canal. In 1959 she recommissioned as leader of the Portsmouth Squadron, as a training tender to the Navigational Training School at , and as trials ship to the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (ASWE). On 25 February 1960 she was used for the burial at sea of Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma off the coast of Portsmouth. On 25 August 1960, the destroyer was carrying out steam trials while moored alongside the minelayer at Portsmouth, when steam was let into the ship's turbines, driving the ship forward and breaking "Apollo"s mooring lines. "Apollo" then collided with "Wakeful", which also broke free from her moorings and struck the caisson at the entrance to a dock. "Apollo"s stem was damaged, while "Wakeful" suffered buckled plates from the impact by "Apollo" and a badly damaged bow from the collision with the caisson.