USS Trenton (LPD-14) was an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the capital of New Jersey.

However, on 28 June, her shakedown cruise was interrupted when a steam valve in her number two engine room ruptured, killing four sailors instantly and severely injuring six others.

The injured men were evacuated first to Guantánamo Bay and thence to the burn ward of the United States Army Hospital at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Trenton returned to Guantánamo Bay for interim repairs and then made her way back to Norfolk on one engine, arriving on 6 July.

After repairs at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, she completed shakedown training off the Virginia Capes and in the Guantánamo Bay operating area.

She arrived off Reid State Park, Maine, three days later and participated in the cold weather amphibious exercise until 23 January when she headed home.

She then devoted the rest of the early summer to exercises and training at Onslow Beach and at Norfolk before preparing for her first Mediterranean deployment.

On 16 January 1973, she headed home; and, ten days later, she entered the Naval Amphibious Base at Little Creek, Virginia.

On the 27th, she embarked Marines at Morehead City and headed for Onslow Beach, where she participated in Exercise "Exotic Dancer VI."

From 10 to 14 April, Trenton joined other Navy ships in Exercise "Escort Tiger XIV," which consisted of training for disaster assistance to the island countries of the Caribbean.

During this Caribbean cruise, she visited Maracaibo, Venezuela, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands before embarking the Marines at Vieques on 3 May.

After a port visit at Ponce, Puerto Rico, Trenton carried her Marines to Guantánamo Bay for a four-day exercise.

The amphibious transport dock departed Europe at Rotterdam on 21 July and headed back to the United States.

On 14 August, she headed north to New York, moored at the Coastal Drydock and Repair Company on the following day, and commenced a nine-month overhaul.

On 12 May 1976, Trenton completed her overhaul and, following loadout at Little Creek, Virginia, she deployed to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba on 6 July for refresher training.

On 15 November, Trenton, with embarked elements of Marine Battalion Landing Team 1/6, formed Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 3–76 and operated with the Sixth Fleet.

On 17 January 1977, in Barcelona, Spain, a landing craft being used as a liberty boat by Trenton and USS Guam, was run over by a freighter.

The year 1978 found Trenton embarking elements of Battalion Landing Team 1/2 and deploying to the Caribbean from 30 January to 7 March to participate in Atlantic Fleet Readiness Exercise 1–78.

The ship, with embarked elements of Marine Battalion Landing Team 2/8, departed Morehead City on 27 July, as part of Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 2–78.

After the exercise, the ship made port visits to Malmö, Sweden; Bremen, Germany; and Portsmouth, England before returning to Norfolk.

[citation needed] On 2 January 1991, Trenton along with USS Guam were dispatched from anchorage off Oman to be prepared for Non-combatant Evacuation Operations (NEO) from Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, which had been suddenly enveloped by violence when rebels entered the city and the central government collapsed.

Trenton and its nearly 400 sailors made their final homecoming 21 September 2006 before the ship's decommissioning and transfer to the Indian Navy on 17 January 2007.

[1] Archived 6 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine In 2006, the Indian government purchased Trenton for US$48.44 million (Rs 2.18 billion).