torpedo carriages of a new design which used compressed air to launch the torpedoes. She was the first ship of the Royal Navy to be fitted with this design of torpedo launcher. Appointments to Constance in September 1882 included midshipman Charles Vaughan-Lee, and Captain Frederic Proby Doughty. Proby Doughty had previously been in command of . Constance was commissioned on 3 October 1882. She relieved , which was stationed in the Pacific. Her complement of 264 officers and men included a number of Royal Marines and Royal Marine Artillery. As Constance was scheduled to depart from Chatham for the Pacific on 16 October, a large number of her crew were granted shore leave on 15 October. Whilst ashore, a fight developed between the crews of Constance and (also scheduled to depart for overseas service) on one side, and on the other. Nearly 100 sailors were involved, with a number of them being arrested by local and military police, assisted by reinforcements sent from the Dockyard. The prisoners were taken to their respective ships. By 20 October, Constance and Linnet were at Sheerness, with departure scheduled for 25 October. By November, Constance was at Spithead awaiting further speed trials. The speed trials were undertaken on 21 November under the command of Captain Colomb. A speed of was achieved, which was in excess of that specified by the Admiralty when the contract for building Constance was granted. Constance departed under the command of Captain Proby Doughty on 19 December, bound for the Pacific in order to relieve Thetis. By September 1883, Constance was on station at Guayaquil, Ecuador, where she was to relieve in patrolling the coasts of Chile and Peru. Constance arrived at Honolulu, Hawaii on 13 April 1884, and then departed for Victoria, British Columbia. From there she sailed to San Francisco, California. She departed San Francisco on 1 August 1885 bound for Coquimbo, Chile via Honolulu, Raratonga, the Hervey Islands and Tahiti. She arrived at Honolulu on 29 August. In August 1885, it was reported that Constance was to be relieved by , and was to return to the Medway for decommissioning. Constance arrived at San Francisco on 20 September 1885, departing on 25 September for Panama. On 27 October 1885, Captain Seymour Dacres was appointed to command Constance. From Panama, Constance sailed to Hong Kong via Honolulu. On arrival at Hong Kong, Constance relieved , which was to