Her surgeon went ashore to treat the injured; her crew furnished work parties to help clear the rubble; and her steam launch moved relief supplies.

An Italian ship was chartered as a haven for about 135 refugees until 27 June 1881 when Rear Admiral James W. Nicholson arrived aboard USS Lancaster to relieve Galena.

She arrived at New York City on 10 September 1883 to serve in the North Atlantic Squadron along the United States East Coast and throughout the Caribbean to the shores of Aspinwall, Colombia (now Colón, Panama).

This included station duty at Key West, Florida, from 1 May to 16 August 1884 to prevent illegal filibustering expeditions from the United States to Cuba.

On 10 April 1885, Rear Admiral James Edward Jouett arrived aboard USS Tennessee and with a force of 600 U.S. Navy sailors and United States Marines, assisted by Galena, kept the Isthmus open to crossing travelers and enforced treaty obligations until order was restored in May 1885.

She visited St. Andrew Island, 114 nautical miles (211 km; 131 mi) east of the Nicaraguan coast, on 14 February 1886 to investigate the detention of the American steamer City of Mexico.

Galena returned north to the United States in time to participate in ceremonies for the unveiling of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at New Haven, Connecticut, on 14 June 1887.

USS Dolphin relieved her as flagship while she was at Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti, on 14 February 1890, and she departed Key West on 25 May 1890 and made calls at Port Royal and at Charleston, South Carolina, before arriving at the New York Navy Yard on 1 July 1890.

On 13 March 1891, however, both ships ran aground in fog on a beach about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Gay Head on Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts.