Engineering expertise aboard Delaware and ashore

The Navy selected Richardson for its first postgraduate engineering class, which ran from 1909 to 1911, and then assigned him as an engineer aboard USS Delaware. He spent his brief time on the 21-knot, triple-expansion battleship trying to coax more speed from her machinery. His move to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet reflected confidence rather than failure because technically capable officers were needed to make neglected ships ready for war. The work reunited him with torpedo boats similar to those he had commanded. The assignment joined his engineering knowledge to direct operating experience in an effort to recover fleet readiness.