lacked a full-length waterline armor belt. The sides of her boiler and engine rooms and steering gear were protected by of armor. The transverse bulkheads at the end of her machinery rooms were thick forward and three inches thick aft. The deck over the machinery spaces and steering gear had a thickness of 1.5 inches. The gun turrets were not armored and only provided protection against muzzle blast and the conning tower had 1.5 inches of armor. Richmond carried two floatplanes aboard that were stored on the two catapults. Initially these were probably Vought VE-9s until the early 1930s when the ship may have operated OJ-2 until 1935 and Curtiss SOC Seagulls until 1940 when Vought OS2U Kingfishers were used on ships without hangars. Armament changes During her career Richmond went through several armament changes, some of these changes were save weight, but others were to increase her AA armament. The lower torpedo tube mounts proved to be very wet and were removed, and the openings plated over, before the start of World War II. Another change made before the war was to increase the 3-inch guns to eight, all mounted in the ship's waist. After 1940, the lower aft 6-inch guns were removed and the casemates plated over for the same reason as the lower torpedo mounts. The ship's anti-aircraft armament were augmented by three twin Bofors guns along with 12 Oerlikon cannons by the end of the war. 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 , 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