Boston was laid down on 15 November 1883 by Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, Chester, Pennsylvania, launched on 4 December 1884, and commissioned on 2 May 1887 at the New York Navy Yard, Captain Francis M. Ramsay in command.

[1] Boston was ordered as part of the "ABCD" ships, the others being the cruisers Atlanta and Chicago and the dispatch vessel Dolphin.

The ship carried up to 490 tons of coal, with a cruising range as built of 3,390 nmi (6,280 km; 3,900 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[2][7] In 1900–01 Boston was rebuilt and the 6-inch guns were converted to rapid firing with brass case ammunition replacing powder bags.

[9] She joined the Squadron of Evolution on 30 September 1889 and cruised to the Mediterranean and South America from 7 December 1889 to 29 July 1890, and along the east coast in 1891.

Except for a prospective Pacific Squadron commanding officer's cruise to the Hawaiian Islands from 11 August 1892 to 10 October 1893 (in which she provided a shore party in January 1893 that bolstered the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy), she remained on the West Coast until laid up at Mare Island Navy Yard on 4 November 1893.

From 4 October to 23 December, Boston and other ships deployed to Taku in China to protect American interests in the wake of a coup d'etat by the Empress Dowager Cixi.

[10] Boston returned to San Francisco on 9 August 1899 and went out of commission at Mare Island Navy Yard on 15 September 1899.

She was renamed Despatch, the sixth U.S. Navy ship to bear that name, on 9 August 1940, thus freeing her original name for use on the new heavy cruiser Boston (CA-69).

Boston/Despatch earned the following awards in her career spanning six decades: This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.