She was launched on 10 May 1997 by the Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and commissioned into the RNZN on 10 December 1999 in her ceremonial homeport of Tauranga. In early 2002, microscopic cracks in "Te Mana"s bilge keel and hull plating were discovered. This problem, which was common to the first four ships of the "Anzac" class, was later rectified. "Te Mana" was sent to the Solomon Islands in 2000, in preparation to evacuate around 225 New Zealanders from the ethnic conflict on the islands. A sailor died at sea aboard the frigate on 29 March 2001; the death was investigated by the New Zealand Police but treated as not suspicious. In February 2002, a Seasprite helicopter flown by a Royal Australian Navy test pilot crashed into "Te Mana"s deck. The ship was operating during high seas in Cook Strait, a court of enquiry later found that no single event was to blame for the accident. The repairs to the Seasprite cost an estimated $7.4 million. "Te Mana" went to the aid of in July 2002, when "Nottingham" ran aground on the submerged Wolf Rock, and provided manpower, supplies and salvage equipment to the stricken vessel. From 28 January 2003 until 4 August 2003, "Te Mana" was deployed to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, conducting Maritime Interdiction Operations as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. "Te Mana" deployed to the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman for a second time in 2004, again to undertake Maritime Interdiction Operations, as part of Combined Task Force 150. In May the helicopter was damaged, at a cost of up to $4 million; a court of enquiry later found the pilot and co-pilot had failed to lash the aircraft down to the deck correctly. In the Gulf of Oman on 14 July 2004, a crew member aboard a merchant bulk chemical carrier fell into a tank while cleaning it. "Te Mana" responded to the emergency call and sprinted to the scene, the ship's medic was flown over to the bulk carrier, but the patient was unable to be revived. She returned to Devonport on 10 September 2004, having queried 380 ships and boarded 38. "Te Mana" and were the first RNZN vessels to visit Russia, arriving in the Pacific port of Vladivostok on 10 June 2005 on a diplomatic mission. A fire broke out about "Te Mana" in February 2006, while it was participating in an exercise off the coast of Australia.