Almost three months later, on 30 January 1888, Trenton sailed for the Pacific. The voyage took her more than a year to complete, for she had to steam around Cape Horn at the southern end of South America. After stops at Panama and Tahiti, the warship reached Apia, Samoa, on 10 March 1889 and joined other units of the Pacific Squadron. Six days later, on 16 March 1889, a cyclone struck Apia and the thirteen ships anchored in her harbor. For thirty-six hours the storm ravaged the harbor. The Trenton, having lost steam and rudder, was in imminent danger of foundering on the reef. An unusual maneuver suggested by Lieutenant Robert M. G. Brown, Trentons navigator, is credited for saving the flag ship from complete destruction. Trentons commander, Norman von Heldreich Farquhar, ordered every man into the port rigging. With the wind striking against the compact mass of bodies, which acted as a sail, the vessel was steered away from the reef and into the bay. Trenton collided with the SMS Olga and then floated toward the sinking . With her crew still in the rigging, the approach was slowed and another collision avoided with the Trenton safely maneuvered alongside the Vandalia. The Vandalias crew escaped to deck of the Trenton, saving many lives that otherwise might have been lost. Both ships were later abandoned. Out of 450 men on the crew of Trenton, only one life (Landsman J. Hewlett) was lost. Trenton was declared a total loss, and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 13 April 1891. Pioneer in Electricity for US Naval Vessels 1883 Trenton was the first U.S. Navy ship to have electric lights. A dynamo, engine, and lights were installed in the summer of 1883. The successful use of electricity on this ship led to the installation of electricity on the first ships of the New Steel Navy. References 1876 ships Steamships of the United States Navy Ships built in Brooklyn History of Trenton, New Jersey Maritime incidents in March 1889 1889 in Samoa Shipwrecks of Samoa First Samoan Civil War