She was launched on 3 August sponsored by Mrs. Richard J. Hughes, and commissioned on 6 March The amphibious transport dock remained in port until 1 June when she departed Hampton Roads for shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. 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.
There, two of the six subsequently died as a result of their injuries. On 9 November, the ship returned to Norfolk and remained there through the end of 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.
She spent the remainder of the year and most of the first month of in the Mediterranean Sea. During that six-month period, Trenton participated in six amphibious landing exercises Phiblexes , most of which were conducted in cooperation with the military services of foreign nations. Greek and Italian ships joined her later that month for Phiblex 3—73 conducted at Alexandroupolis, Greece. In mid-October, troops of the French Foreign Legion provided the opposition for a landing exercise at Corsica.
On 1 March, Trenton shifted to the administrative command of PhibRon Thomas in the U. Virgin Islands before embarking the Marines at Vieques on 3 May.
She reached Kiel, Germany , on 22 June, and, for the next week, participated in the annual " Kiel Week " naval celebration. Early in July, she visited Portsmouth, England , and, at mid-month, put into Rotterdam , the Netherlands. The amphibious transport dock departed Europe at Rotterdam on 21 July and headed back to the United States. Trenton spent the remainder of the summer conducting drills in the Virginia Capes Operating Area and in preparation for her second Caribbean deployment of the year.
