other special assignments. His commands at that time, however, included the 

 destroyers HENLEY, DOWNES, SHAH, TUCKER, GEORGE E. BADGER, 

 and also command of Base 18 at Woods Hole. 



One of his special assignments occurred in the summer of 1928, when 

 he was leader of the Coast Guard Cutter MARION expedition, which made 

 thorough oceanographic surveys in the Labrador Sea, Davis Strait, and 

 Baffin Bay, visiting some of the most important iceberg producing glaciers 

 in West Greenland. This was the most comprehensive oceanographic survey 

 ever made by the United States, from which RADM Smith prepared a report 

 for publication. 



In July 1929, he was recommended by Harvard University, the American 

 Geographic Society, and the National Academy of Science as a scientific 

 member of the Graf Zeppelin polar flight proposed by the Central Office 

 of Aeroarctic in Berlin. He was the only American invited by the sponsors 

 of the expedition. The flight was made from July 24 to August 1 , 1931 , 

 with RADM Smith, then a Lieutenant Commander, acting as observer and navigator 

 of the dirigible. It was the longest non-stop flight ever made by the 

 Graf Zeppelin, constituting a cruise of six days and coverage of 8,000 

 miles in the area of the Arctic Circle for the purpose of collecting data 

 on terrestrial magnetism, atmospheric electricity, and aerogeodesy. From 

 this expedition, he gathered much information which was of importance to 

 the Ice Patrol. 



Prior to that trip, on June 19, 1930, he was awarded the Degree of 



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