On 6 November 2013 it was announced that the Royal Navy had signed an agreement in principle to build three new offshore patrol vessels, based on the River-class design, at a fixed price of £348 million including spares and support.

Steel was cut, marking the start of construction of Trent, on 7 October 2015 at the BAE Systems Govan shipyard in Glasgow.

Trent was officially named—the equivalent to a traditional slipway launch—on the south bank of the Clyde at BAE's Govan yard on 13 March 2018, completing her first sea trials in June the following year.

[14] Trent was commissioned on 3 August 2020[15][16] and deployed to the Mediterranean for NATO Operation Sea Guardian, before returning to the UK in September.

[36][37] Subsequently, Trent, operating in conjunction with the US Coast Guard, participated in the interception of a smuggling speedboat off the US Virgin Islands which resulted in the seizure of 94 bales of narcotics weighing 2,757 kg (6,078 lb) and worth £220.56m.

[42] Later in the month, Trent, again operating with the US Coast Guard about 120 nautical miles (220 km; 140 mi) south of the Dominican Republic, was involved in the seizure of another 500 kg (1,100 lb) of cocaine valued at approximately £40m.

[44] Later in the month, HMS Trent completed her Caribbean deployment and returned to Gibraltar, stopping at Bermuda en route.