After promotion to rear-admiral on 9 June 1882, Richards was appointed Junior Naval Lord in July 1882 and then Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station, hoisting his flag in the corvette HMS "Bacchante", in May 1885. In that role he organized and equipped a naval brigade to support the British advance up the Irrawaddy River in November 1885 during the Third Anglo-Burmese War. On his return to England in June 1888, together with two other admirals, he was asked to investigate the disposition of the ships of the Royal Navy many of which were unarmoured and together incapable of meeting the combined threat from any two of the other naval powers ("the Two-power Standard") and to prepare the report which ultimately led to the Naval Defence Act 1889. He was also a member of a Royal Commission formed to look into Naval and Military administration.