USS Richmond (CL-9) - Inter-war Period

Inter-war Period

On completion of a three-month shakedown cruise to Europe, Africa, and South America, Richmond underwent post-shakedown availability and in December departed Norfolk for New Orleans. There, at the end of 1923, she became flagship of the Scouting Force.

In early January 1924, she got underway to participate in Fleet Problem III which tested Caribbean defenses and transit facilities of the Panama Canal. On the 19th, she arrived off Veracruz, rescued survivors of Tacoma, wrecked on Blanquilla Reef; then proceeded to Tampico to stand by as political tension rose. On the 26th, she headed for Galveston, only to return to Mexico on 3 February to evacuate refugees from Puerto Mexico and transport them to Veracruz. On the 17th, she headed east and joined in exercises off Puerto Rico.

In May, Richmond returned briefly to New Orleans, then steamed for the northeast coast and further exercises. Toward the end of July she departed Newport, R.I., for duty as a station ship along the route of Army planes making a round-the-world flight. On 2 August, she attempted to take in tow the Douglas World Cruiser "Boston", downed on the Atlantic Ocean after engine trouble, but the floatplane capsized in rough seas, although the two crew were rescued. Then, from September through December, she underwent overhaul at the New York Navy Yard.

In January 1925, Richmond, flagship of Light Cruiser Divisions, Scouting Fleet, again participated in Caribbean exercises. In February, she transited the Panama Canal and during March trained off the California coast. In April, she steamed to Hawaii for joint Army-Navy maneuvers, after which she joined the Battle Fleet for a good will cruise to Australia and New Zealand.

Returning to Norfolk on 23 November, Richmond operated off the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean through 1926. On 1 February 1927, she again transited the Panama Canal; conducted exercises in Hawaiian waters; then continued on to China, arriving at Shanghai on 3 April. She remained on the China Station for a year, with only infrequent diversions to the Philippines for repairs and exercises. On 14 April 1928, she sailed eastward and less than three months later departed San Pedro, California, for Corinto, Nicaragua with a Navy Battalion embarked. On 25 July, she retransited the Panama Canal and for the next six years operated off the New England and mid-Atlantic coasts and in the Caribbean with occasional interruptions for fleet problems and exercises in the eastern Pacific.

From September 1934 to December 1937, Richmond operated off the west coast as a unit of the Scouting Fleet. After 21 December, she served as flagship of the Submarine Force, and on 10 May 1938, she headed back to the east coast. On 26 August, she returned to San Diego and resumed her previous duty with the Submarine Force. In the winter of 1939 and the fall of 1940, she returned to the Atlantic for fleet and submarine exercises, and, at the end of December 1940, hauled down the flag of the Submarine Force.

With the new year, 1941, Richmond shifted to Pearl Harbor; and, from January to June, served as flagship, Scouting Force. Into October, she remained in Hawaiian waters, operating with Cruiser Division 3 (CruDiv 3), then she returned to California and in November began Neutrality Patrols off the west coasts of the Americas. On 7 December, she was en route to Valparaíso, Chile.