Richmond was an Omaha-class light cruiser, CL-9, named for the city in Virginia. William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia laid her down on 16 February 1920 and launched her on 29 September 1921. The Navy commissioned her on 2 July 1923. She was one of the scout cruisers built just after the First World War, long and lightly protected, with twelve 6-inch guns.
By 1943 she was in the Aleutians. On 26 March, about 180 miles west of Attu and about 100 miles south of the Komandorski Islands, Rear Admiral Charles H. McMorris flew his flag in her. Theodore Waldschmidt was her captain. With her were the heavy cruiser Salt Lake City and the destroyers Bailey, Coghlan, Dale, and Monaghan. They had gone out to catch a convoy. What they met was Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya's Fifth Fleet.
The gunfire lasted about three and a half hours, in daylight, with no aircraft and no submarines. Salt Lake City was hit and lost power. Bailey led the destroyers in, and her torpedoes missed. Richmond was not sunk. Hosogaya turned away. The transports did not reach Attu. No ship on either side went down.
She stayed in northern waters after that, including bombardments of the Kurils. After the surrender she covered the occupation of northern Japan, then went to Philadelphia. She was decommissioned on 21 December 1945, struck on 21 January 1946, and sold for scrap on 18 December 1946.