Trenton was laid down by the New York Navy Yard in 1875; launched on 1 January 1876; sponsored by Miss Katherine M. Parker; and commissioned on 14 February 1877, Captain John Lee Davis in command.

Consequently, Trenton and the other ships of the squadron alternated tours of duty in the eastern Mediterranean protecting U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals resident in or visiting Turkish possessions.

Next, Trenton visited Marseilles for two weeks in mid-September; then steamed back to Villefranche on the 18th and remained there until Christmas Day, when she put to sea to return to the eastern Mediterranean.

She cruised north, visited Lisbon, Portugal; Cherbourg, France; and Yarmouth, England; and then returned to the Mediterranean, reaching Villefranche in mid-October.

In June, she again headed out through the Strait of Gibraltar to visit Portsmouth, England; Terneuzen, Netherlands; Antwerp, Belgium; and Copenhagen, Denmark.

After a visit to Marseilles on 7 June, the flagship left the Mediterranean for the third time during this deployment and made another cruise to English, Belgian, and Dutch ports.

[1] Trenton returned to the western Mediterranean in August and operated there until 7 September 1881, when she sailed for the U.S. She arrived in Hampton Roads on 12 October, and three days later moved up the York River for the Yorktown centennial celebration.

On occasion, Trenton sent landing parties ashore in China and Korea to protect American nationals and other foreigners during periods of internal unrest.

The warship completed this tour of duty in the spring of 1886; departed Yokohama, Japan on 9 May; retraced her voyage back across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, and across the Atlantic to reach Hampton Roads on 2 September.

En route, Trenton stopped at St. Vincent in the Windward Islands and entered Rio de Janeiro on 10 September for a fortnight visit.

An unusual maneuver suggested by Lieutenant Robert M. G. Brown, Trenton's navigator, is credited for saving the flag ship from complete destruction.